Cuban Foreign Minister extends Medvedev an invitation from Castro

Nov 11, 2008, 13:25 GMT

Moscow - Cuban Foreign Minsiter Felipe Perez Roque met with Russian leaders in Moscow on Tuesday in the latest sign of strengthening military and economic ties between the Soviet-era allies.

Roque carried an invitation for an official visit to President Dmitry Medvedev from Cuban leader Raul Castro, news agency Interfax reported.

'We have overcome the pause that appeared in our relations in the past decade, and today our contacts are intensive and positive,' Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in televised comments. 'Cuba has been and remains one of our key partners in Latin America.'

Russia and Cuba sealed a raft of accords this month during a visit by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin to the Caribbean Island, his third trip in three months.

Deals were signed in the automotive, nickel and energy sectors. Russia has also made overtures to tighten military cooperation between the two states.

'Cuba will not ask for permission from any other country, we have the right to develop bilateral military-industrial cooperations like all countries,' Roque said at a press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

But he denied any possibility of Moscow deploying missile elements in the country.

Analysts have warned that Russia's move to revive cooperation with US foes in the Western Hemisphere, including joint naval exercises this month with Venezuela in US-patrolled waters of the Caribbean, poses a distinct foreign policy trial for the new US administration of Barack Obama.

Lavrov challenged Obama's administration Tuesday to review economic sanctions against Cuba, a feature of US foreign policy since the Kennedy era.

'We've already expressed our views on the economic sanctions, along with an overwhelming majority of the international community,' he said answering questions at a news conference Tuesday.

'I am not going to give any advice to the US president, but I've heard that relations with Cuba are among the issues his administration will be reviewing,' he said.