Lavrov calls for lifting the blockade on Cuba, urgent humanitarian measures

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for lifting the blockade on Cuba and for urgent humanitarian measures to be taken, according to remarks reported by TASS.

Lavrov said Cuba faces 'unprecedented pressure from its northern neighbor' — a reference to the United States — and said the country needs urgent measures to improve what he described as a dire humanitarian situation.

The United States has maintained a decades-long trade embargo on Cuba, a policy Washington says is aimed at pressuring the Cuban government, while Havana and allies including Russia have long called for it to be lifted.

TASS did not report an immediate response from the United States to Lavrov's remarks.