Call for the preservation of international peace and security

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

The United States’ endeavor to impose NATO’s progressive expansion towards the borders of the Russian Federation constitutes a threat to the national security of the Russian Federation and to regional and international peace.

The U.S. Government has for weeks been threatening Russia and manipulating the international community about the dangers of an “imminent massive invasion” of Ukraine. It has supplied weapons and military technology, deployed troops in several countries in the region, applied unilateral and unjust sanctions, and threatened other reprisals. At the same time, it has unleashed an anti-Russian propaganda campaign.

Cuba has previously warned about the danger of this policy.

On February 22, 2014, the then President of the Councils of State and Ministers, Army General Raul Castro Ruz, warned, “Right now, alarming events are taking place in Ukraine. The intervention of Western powers must cease (…). It should not be ignored that these events could have very serious consequences for international peace and security”.

Years later, on September 26, 2018, before the United Nations General Assembly, the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, warned that, “The continued expansion of NATO towards the borders with Russia causes serious dangers, aggravated by the imposition of arbitrary sanctions that we reject.

We call on the United States and NATO to seriously and realistically address the well-founded demands for security guarantees from the Russian Federation, which has the right to defend itself.

Cuba advocates a diplomatic solution through constructive and respectful dialogue.

We call for the preservation of international peace and security.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba

Havana, 22 February 2022