Raul Castro in first visit to Moscow by Cuban leader since Cold War

Jan 28, 2009, 14:30 GMT

Moscow - Cuban President Raul Castro began a week-long visit to Moscow on Wednesday, the first by a Cuban leader since the fall of the Soviet Union as Russia moves to restore ties with its Cold War ally.

Cuba's revolutionary strongman Fidel Castro twice visited the Soviet capital at the peak of the Cold War.

But relations between the two countries cooled after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the communist island's main foreign sponsor, in 1991.

Raul Castro, who took over leadership from his brother Fidel in 2006, said in an earlier interview with news agency Itar-Tass that his visited aimed to grow the 'great ties' existing between the two countries.

'What do we expect from our visit? To strengthen and consolidate that which we have achieved in the past ... this makes for a strong basis for mutual relations,' Castro told the agency ahead of his visit.

Castro's visit is due to last until February 4 and will be the first by a Cuban leader in 22 years.

Many see Moscow's warming ties Cuba, long an arch-foe of the United States as a retaliatory move in anger over US missile defence plans and post-war aide to Georgia.

Improved ties with Cuba came amid a broader venture by Moscow to strengthen its relations with Latin America last year. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with Fidel and Raul Castro on a strategic tour of South American in November.

In December, a Russian warship, the Admiral Chabanenko, docked in Cuba after taking part in joint naval exercises with Venezuela, whose President Hugo Chavez is a vociferous critic of the United States.

Castro and Medvedev are due to meet on Friday, according to the Kremlin's website, where they will review bilateral deals in the energy sector among others, Russian officials said ahead of the visit.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia is also considering a 20-million-dollar-loan to Cuba that would be spent on buying Russian goods, Putin said last week.

Russia's deputy prime minister in charge of energy, Igor Sechin, said last week deals had been hashed out for Russian investments in Cuba's metals, shipbuilding, telecom and oil sectors, including offshore exploration of the country's territorial waters in the Gulf of Mexico.