Moscow has welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to loosen the U.S. embargo on Cuba and hopes that Washington will realize that sanctions as an instrument of foreign policy in relation to other countries have no prospects.
“Typically, the U.S. president recognized the ineffectiveness of years-long attempts to “isolate” Cuba. We can only hope that Washington will more rapidly realize the ineffectiveness of similar sanctions pressure on other countries,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, which was posted on its website early on Dec.18 morning.
It is high time to normalize relations between these two countries, the Russian ministry said.
“We believe that the decisions announced in the United States and Cuba, as well as specific steps taken there with the aim of normalizing bilateral dialogue meet the interests of both countries and the interests of international security in general. Washington’s plans to stop groundlessly accusing Havana of supporting terrorism, the restoration of diplomatic relations, the lifting of at least some of the restrictions on American citizens’ trips to the island and the latest exchange of convicted persons are measures that are long overdue,” it said.
“We have repeatedly called on the U.S. to follow this path and leave all ideological prejudices of the past century behind. We are pleased to note that removing the barriers to bank transfers is in line with the resolution entitled “The necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba”, which for many years has been passed by the UN General Assembly with Russia’s active support. Hopefully, it will be followed by the cancellation of the entire American trade embargo against the island active since 1961,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
