Cuba Rejects ‘Propaganda Hysteria’ Against Russia, Opposes NATO Expansion, Cuban FM Says

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Eduardo Rodriguez Parrilla says that his country is against NATO’s expansion eastward and that the United States is behind the current anti-Russia "hysteria."

"We strongly reject the media and propaganda hysteria triggered by the US government against Russia, and we firmly oppose NATO's expansion towards the borders of that sister nation," the minister said on Twitter on Saturday.

Moscow has expressed strong concerns over NATO's military activity near the Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security. Russia has pointed out that Western claims of a looming "invasion" of Ukraine appear to be used as a pretext for advancing NATO's military presence further eastward in Europe.

The situation on the contact line in southeastern Ukraine (Donbass) escalated this week, with the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk (DPR and LPR) reporting continuing shelling of Donbas settlements by Kiev forces, in violation of the Minsk peace deal. On Friday, DPR and LPR announced the evacuation of their citizens to Russia’s Rostov Region amid fears of an attack by Kiev forces.

Russia published its security suggestions for NATO and the United States in late 2021 as tensions rose around Ukraine. Moscow specifically requested guarantees that the alliance would not expand eastward to include Ukraine and Georgia, to which Washington has replied by insisting it will not allow anyone to slam NATO's open-door policy shut.

The US and NATO have since submitted their responses to the proposals but asked Moscow to keep them confidential. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the West has ignored Russia's fundamental concerns and demands, including over the alliance's expansion. Russia delivered its written response to US Ambassador in Moscow John Sullivan on Thursday.

On Friday, Der Spiegel reported that a formerly classified document had been retrieved from the British national archive in which Western countries committed to the non-expansion of NATO eastward. The document details the meeting of foreign ministry representatives of the US, the UK, France and Germany that took place on March 6, 1991 in Bonne. The diplomats discussed issues pertaining to the security of Poland and other Eastern European countries. They agreed that NATO's expansion eastward was "unacceptable," according to the report.