The Governments of Cuba and Belarus agreed to increase military cooperation during the visit of the chief of the General Staff of the island, Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, as reported this Friday by the Belarusian Ministry of Defense.
“The heads of the military agencies of both countries agreed to increase cooperation across the entire spectrum of directions of mutual interest,” the Defense group reported on Telegram.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces and First Deputy Minister of Defense, Major General Pavel Muravéiko, ordered to organize “a series of practical bilateral activities soon,” notes an agency office. EFE.
In addition, it highlighted Minsk’s interest in not only carrying out the proposed plans, but also “developing new directions of cooperation,” says the report, which does not offer details about the possible actions and specific areas in which the armies of both countries would cooperate.
The news comes a few days after the Russian parliament ratified a military cooperation agreement with the island, without providing details of it either.
Moscow noted that the ratification of this agreement, signed in March, “will guarantee the necessary legal bases to define the objectives, directions and forms of bilateral military cooperation” and will reinforce the strengthening and development of relations between Russia and Cuba in the military sphere.
Russian Duma ratifies military cooperation agreement with Cuba
Belarus and also Russia
Legrá Sotolongo, who holds the rank of General of the Army Corps, has been in Belarus throughout this week, on an official visit aimed at expanding military collaboration between both countries, according to was reported on Monday.
According to Minsk, this visit had among its objectives to discuss with its Belarusian counterparts “practical measures” for the training of Cuban soldiers, incorporating “the experience of contemporary armed conflicts.”
EFE reported that as part of the program, the island’s military chief visited an arsenal and a command of the Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defenses, as well as the memorial complex of the Brest Fortress, the first to confront the troops of Nazi Germany in June 1941.
The Spanish agency notes that this exchange coincided with accusations from the United States about the participation of Cubans in the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Belarus is Russia’s main ally in the region and a key point in the Kremlin’s military cooperation since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.
In turn, Havana and Minsk have been strengthening their ties in recent years, and in 2024 signed a group of agreements during a trip to Cuba by Prime Minister Román Golovchenko.
Among the agreements signed then were one on the mutual protection of classified information and others in the economic, commercial, financial, customs and public health areas.
