Cuban President thanks Putin for understanding Cubans' problems

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for his attention to the problems of the Cuban people. He said this during a meeting with St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov in Havana on November 23.

The Cuban leader also expressed his gratitude to Alexander Beglov and noted the twinning of St. Petersburg with the Cuban cities of Havana and Santiago de Cuba.

"I appreciate Russia's support in the difficult times that Cuba is going through. I have confirmed my interest in further strengthening cooperation projects, which in the case of St. Petersburg mainly concern health care, biotechnology, tourism, scientific and cultural exchange. <...> I asked him to convey warm words of greetings to President Putin," Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on the social network X (former Twitter).

Earlier, on November 14, Russian Emergencies Ministry head Alexander Kurenkov said that Russia will increase humanitarian aid to Cuba. He also discussed with General of the Army of the Republic of Cuba Raul Castro the interaction between the emergency services of Russia and the Cuban state.

Before that, on November 13, Kurenkov arrived on an official visit to Cuba. The purpose of the visit is to strengthen Russian-Cuban cooperation in mitigating the consequences of natural disasters, including with the assistance of the Regional Russian-Cuban center for training of fire and rescue specialists.

Prior to that, on November 8, it was reported that as a result of the powerful hurricane "Rafael", which hit Cuba on November 6, the country was left without electricity. At least 4 million Cubans suffered in one way or another from the consequences of the disaster. The hurricane, which passed through Cuba at a speed of 180 km / h, was assigned the third level of danger out of five.

On October 20, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said that Russia had offered Cuba assistance in solving the problem with the republic's energy system.