Russia says it will support Cuba as US tightens the 'noose'

Russia said on Thursday that it would provide active support to Cuba despite attempts by the United States to intimidate and tighten the "sanctions noose" around the Communist‑run island republic.

The United States announced murder charges against former President Raúl Castro on Wednesday, a major escalation in Washington's campaign against Cuba, where Castro's communists have been in charge since his late brother Fidel Castro led a revolution in 1959.

"We will continue to provide the most active support to the fraternal Cuban people during this extremely difficult period," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

"We reaffirm our full solidarity with Cuba and strongly condemn any attempts at gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, intimidation, and the use of illegal unilateral restrictive measures, threats, and blackmail."

Zakharova gave no details of the support that Russia would provide but said the United States was showing its "intolerance towards any form of dissent and a cynical embodiment of the revived Monroe Doctrine."

-Dmitry Antonov/Reuters