Cuba is settling its debts with Russia and is ready to pay them all, even if it has overdue payments, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview broadcast on Saturday, adding that the situation was not the same as it was several decades ago, when the Soviet Union gratuitously helped the island nation
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2019) Cuba is settling its debts with Russia and is ready to pay them all, even if it has overdue payments, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview broadcast on Saturday, adding that the situation was not the same as it was several decades ago, when the Soviet Union gratuitously helped the island nation."Our Cuban friends pay off their debts. Unlike how it used to be some time ago say, 20-30 years ago, in Soviet times, when no one in this case counted money. Now our Cuban friends are paying," Medvedev said in the Russian Vesti v Subbotu tv program.
The prime minister noted that during his visit to Cuba earlier in the week, President Miguel Diaz-Canel told him several times that "if we [Cuba] have delayed something somewhere, don't worry, we will repay everything."
Medvedev stressed that although the relationship between the two countries was friendly, it should also be pragmatic and the cooperation should be beneficial.
"Gratuitous aid, irrevocable supplies ... Everything has changed in this world. The Soviet Union no longer exists, Cuba is changing, and there is no discussion on any gratuitous aid that could be written off. Now our relationship is completely pragmatic. Although it is friendly in nature and based on the historical past, nevertheless this is the relationship between modern states. It should be beneficial," Medvedev said.
Medvedev visited the island nation from October 3-4 to discuss cooperation in trade, energy, transport, culture and other areas.
