Russia’s Putin meets Cuban FM, says US restrictions ‘unacceptable’

Meeting comes as White House says it wants to see ‘dramatic changes very soon’ in Cuba, calls government ‘failing’.Published On 18 Feb 2026Russian President Vladimir Putin has slammed new restrictions imposed by the United States on Cuba as “unacceptable”, as he met Cuban ⁠Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez in the Kremlin, Russian state news agencies reported.“This is a special period, with new sanctions,” Putin said on Wednesday, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS. “You know how we feel about this. We do not accept anything like this.”Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Cuban official decries ‘massive punishment’ by US oil blockadelist 2 of 3Trump says planning to ‘make visit’ to Venezuela following Maduro abductionlist 3 of 3Fire at Havana oil refinery as Cuba’s fuel crisis deepensend of listIn separate talks with Rodriguez, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is urging the US not to ⁠impose a full naval ⁠blockade on the island, advocating negotiations instead.Lavrov called on Washington to “show sound judgement and a responsible approach, and refrain from plans to impose a naval blockade” on Cuba, according to TASS.He also said Moscow “categorically rejects” that cooperation between Russia and Cuba may be seen to pose a threat to the US or other countries.Rodriguez expressed concern about Washington’s actions, which he said threatened the sovereignty of all countries.Cuba will continue to “resolutely move forward in protecting its independence and sovereignty”, and seek solutions for its economy, he added, according to TASS.Rodriguez also said Havana would “always be ready for a respectful dialogue on equal terms with any country” and honour its agreements with Moscow, despite the difficulties.The island nation of 11 million is staggering under the yoke of major fuel shortages after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 29 authorising the imposition of trade tariffs on imports of oil from third countries to Cuba.