Russia Condemns U.S. Blockade Against Cuba in UN Speech

UNITED NATIONS – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during his address today at the UN General Assembly, reiterated his country's condemnation of the United States' economic blockade against Cuba. Lavrov stated that the Caribbean nation must be removed from the arbitrary list of state sponsors of terrorism, while also condemning threats against Venezuela and emphasizing the need to maintain Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.

Broader Condemnation of Western Policies

In another segment of his speech, the head of Russian diplomacy stated that the world today faces attempts to "bury" the UN's decision on the creation of a Palestinian state through "a kind of coup d'état." Lavrov added that in recent days, several Western governments announced their recognition of the State of Palestine, even though they had signaled this decision several months ago.

"The question arises: why wait so long? Apparently, they were confident that soon there would be nothing left to recognize. The situation demands urgent action to avoid such a scenario, as firmly expressed by the participants of the High-Level International Conference on the Palestinian question," Lavrov stated.

He recalled that Russia condemned the attack by the Palestinian movement Hamas against Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023. "However, there is no justification for the brutal killings of Palestinian civilians, nor for the attacks. There is also no justification for the collective punishment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian children are dying under bombardment and from hunger, hospitals and schools are being destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of people are losing their homes. There is also no justification for the plans to annex the West Bank," he concluded.

On Ukraine, Iran, and the UN Security Council

Lavrov also noted that Russia remains open to maintaining negotiations aimed at eliminating the root causes of the conflict in Ukraine. He further criticized Western powers in the Security Council, stating, "On Friday in the Security Council, the West rejected the rational proposal from China and Russia to extend the 2015 agreement on the Iranian nuclear program to allow time for diplomacy."

The Russian Foreign Minister added that this move "definitively exposed the Western course of sabotaging the search for constructive solutions in the UN Security Council and its desire to obtain unilateral concessions from Tehran through blackmail and pressure."

"We consider this policy unacceptable, and all of the West's manipulations to restore UN sanctions against Iran, as well as the sanctions themselves, are illegal," Lavrov affirmed during his speech at the General Assembly.