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Cuban president satisfied as Moscow revives ties
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 02 - 02 - 2009


Cuban President Raul Castro
expressed satisfaction on Monday with the results of his visit
to Moscow, the first by a Cuban leader since the Cold War, after
a newspaper reported he had won aid pledges of $354 million, according to Reuters.
"I think we are leaving very satisfied," Castro, 77, said at
the start of talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,
part of an eight-day trip to Moscow to help revive ties that
waned after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Business daily Vedomosti quoted Deputy Finance Minister
Sergei Shatalov on Monday as saying Russia had agreed to provide
Havana with $270 million in soft loans, mostly to buy and lease
Russian agricultural and construction machinery
Another $37 million worth of Russian grain will be given to
Havana as aid, Vedomosti quoted Shatalov as saying. On top of
that, state bank VEB told the newspaper it would provide $47
million to sell a Russian-built cargo plane to Cuba.
Russian Finance Ministry officials did not immediately
comment on the report.
During the Cold War, Moscow provided large amounts of aid to
prop up Cuba's economy. It also kept a military presence on the
island, much to the chagrin of Cuba's close neighbour, the
United States.
Moscow's Cuban alliance quickly wilted in the economic chaos
which gripped Russia after the end of communist rule. Putin
ordered the closure in 2002 of Russia's last military base in
Cuba, a radar station, as a cost-cutting move.
But both sides have stepped up links over the past year
against a backdrop of worsening Russian relations with the
United States and a diplomatic push by Moscow in Latin America.
Russian oil companies want to drill in the sea around Cuba
and its military has talked about air defence cooperation with
the Cubans.
Soon after a visit by President Dmitry Medvedev to Cuba in
November, a Russian warship arrived in Havana Bay for the first
time since the Cold War.
In comments at the opening of Monday's meeting, neither
leader gave details of the agreements reached, but both voiced
satisfaction at growing cooperation.
"I very much hope the agreements reached during this visit
will be implemented," Putin said at the start of the meeting,
which lasted about 90 minutes.
"Not just the agreements on loans, but in the real sector,"
he said, citing cooperation in oil, communications,
machine-building and GLONASS satellite navigation -- Moscow's
answer to the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS).
Castro said "all the negotiations have taken place in a
positive atmosphere and all (the obstacles) have been overcome."
Castro also praised the role of Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Igor Sechin in growing ties between the countries.
Though nominally responsible for the Russia's energy
industry, Sechin is regarded as one of Putin's top lieutenants
and the head of the hawkish "siloviki" government clan, which
has close ties to the military and intelligence services.
Neither side has disclosed any information about possible
new military links between Moscow and Havana.


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