Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion to Ukraine, the island regime has backed Moscow.
Miami, United States. – Ukraine will decrease its diplomatic presence in Cuba with the aim of reallocating resources to other Latin American countries, announced Foreign Minister Ukrainian, Andriy Sybiha. “The reduction of our diplomatic presence in Cuba will allow us cited by the middle 24 kanal.
The decision implies a rearrangement of kyiv’s foreign policy in the continent. According to Sybiha, the Ukrainian government plans to open new embassies before the end of 2025 in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama and Uruguay. Likewise, new consulates will be established in Romania, Iraq, Italy, Germany and Slovakia, and two additional consulates will open both in France and Poland.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy also reported that the status of consulates in Antalya (Türkiye) and Gdansk (Poland) will be raised at the general consulate level. “The opening of these new institutions will guarantee access to consular services to a greater number of Ukrainians abroad,” he said.
The measure contrasts with the will publicly manifested by the Cuban regime of strengthening its ties with Ukraine. In March 2025, on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba (Minrex) published in his official X account: “We ratify the will to develop the links between the two countries.”
However, this statement has been questioned by analysts due to Havana’s position since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Cuban regime has expressed its solidarity with Moscow on multiple occasions and has openly rejected kyiv’s positions.
During an official visit to Havana in April 2023, Russian Chancellor Serguéi Lavrov thanked to the Cuban government for its posture favorable to invasion. “We appreciate that from the same beginning of the special military operation our Cuban friends (…) have clearly expressed their position and expressed their full understanding in their valuations of the reasons that led to the current situation,” said Lavrov.
On that same occasion, the Cuban Foreign Ministry supported Russia by rejecting the international sanctions imposed by the West and holding NATO responsible for the “conflict in Europe.” Havana has also refrained in key voting of the UN General Assembly to condemn Russia and opposed the Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski to intervene in high -level debates of the agency.
The tensions between the two countries climbed even more in January 2024, when the Ukrainian parliamentarian Maryan Zablotskyi denounced in Washington that the Cuban regime had sent “thousands of mercenaries” to fight on the side of Russia in the war. “All the cooperation of the totalitarian regimes is almost exactly the same as we saw during the Yom Kippur War, when Israel was also attacked by Cubans and North Koreans with a strong participation of Russia,” said Zablotskyi, a member of the town server ruling party.
Zablotskyi has promoted demonstrations against Cuban embassies in several countries to denounce the recruitment of Cubans and has asked the European Union to suspend aid to the Havana regime.
The recruitment of Cubans to fight in Ukraine It was confirmed Publicly in August 2023, when two young people, Andorf Velázquez García and Alex Vegas Díaz, denounced being deceived with false work promises to end up fighting in Russian territory. The organization InformnaPalm He published evidence with photos of 199 Cuban passports as proof of the mass transfer of Cuban citizens to Russia.
The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FHRC) estimates that between 750 and more than 1,000 Cubans have been recruited, including at least 62 members of the elite black wasps.
In September 2023, the authorities announced the arrest of 17 people on the island, allegedly linked to a human trafficking network that facilitated the recruitment of Cuban citizens for the Russian army.
