Russian minister visits Cuba

HAVANA

Russia's interior minister met with top leaders of ally Cuba in Havana on Jan. 20, a show of solidarity after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the island's longtime communist government "is ready to fall."

Trump this month told Havana to "make a deal," the nature of which he did not divulge, or pay a price similar to Venezuela, whose leader Nicolas Maduro was ousted by U.S. forces in a Jan. 3 bombing raid that killed dozens of people.

Venezuela was a key ally of Cuba and a critical supplier of oil and money, which Trump has vowed to cut off.

"We in Russia regard this as an act of unprovoked armed aggression against Venezuela," Russia's Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev told Russian state TV Rossiya-1 of the U.S. actions after landing in Cuba.

"This act cannot be justified in any way and once again proves the need to increase vigilance and consolidate all efforts to counter external factors," he added.

On Jan. 20, Kolokoltsev met with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel who described the visit as having "enormous significance," according to a statement from the Cuban government.

The visit, the government said, showed Russia's "understanding" of Cuba's situation and "a willingness to help and cooperate."

Russia and Cuba, both under Western sanctions, have intensified their relations since 2022, with an isolated Moscow seeking new friends and trading partners since its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's ambassador to Havana, Victor Koronelli, wrote on X on Jan. 20 that Kolokoltsev was in Cuba "to strengthen bilateral cooperation and the fight against crime."