”With regard to the consideration at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly of a draft resolution entitled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation reaffirms its unchanged position, which is to call for an end to the policy of pressure on a sovereign State and the immediate lifting of sanctions.
For more than 60 years, the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against the Republic of Cuba has directly violated the inalienable right of the Cuban people to choose their political, economic, social, and cultural system. This policy is inherently inhumane and violates the fundamental principles of international law enshrined in documents of the United Nations.
The State Duma notes with regret that the sanctions imposed by the United States are leading to an increased negative impact on the Cuban economy, including energy, agriculture, health care, tourism, and humanitarian cooperation. The practice of harassment of banking and financial transactions is causing comprehensive damage to the Cuban business system, production, and services.
The embargo has a negative impact on the country's social sphere, worsening the material situation of millions of Cubans, preventing the sustainable supply of food, fuel and medicine, and harming people's health and well-being. The embargo artificially creates an environment that poses the threat of a large-scale humanitarian crisis. There are significant disruptions in the sustainable functioning of economic and social infrastructure.
The sanctions imposed by the United States of America against the Republic of Cuba are extraterritorial in nature and are the main obstacle to the development of equal partnership relations with Havana by several States and international organizations. Moreover, the measures adopted unilaterally by the United States of America, bypassing the United Nations, infringe on the rights and legitimate interests of Cuban citizens living in other States.
The deputies of the State Duma stand in full solidarity with the position of the world majority, which insistently demands an end to the stifling blockade of the Republic of Cuba, and call for the immediate repeal of the Helms-Burton Act, adopted in the United States in 1996 at the height of the next round of the anti-Cuba campaign, which enshrines the use of extraterritorial coercive measures that are contrary to the sovereign right of Cuba and its foreign partners to mutually beneficial development of trade, economic, and investment ties.
The policy of the United States of America towards a neighboring independent State is absolutely incompatible with the requirement of unconditional respect for the universally recognized principles of the sovereign equality of States, non-interference in their internal affairs, and respect for the principle of freedom of international trade and international commercial navigation.
The State Duma appeals to the General Assembly of the United Nations, the parliaments of States Members of the United Nations and international parliamentary organizations to condemn the illegal economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against the Republic of Cuba and to develop and implement specific measures to encourage Washington to follow the norms of international law“.
