“Every country is hugely different,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday, responding to a question on US objectives to influence politics inside Russia and whether sanctions and isolation had changed politics inside Cuba.
“In Russia, these sanctions have been put in place, because of the aggressive actions Russia has taken in Ukraine. They have it within their power to bring an end to these sanctions,” Psaki said.
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced the United States will establish an embassy in Cuba after more than 50 years of severed relations. The United States will also increase allowable remittance to Cuba, authorize additional exports and imports of certain goods and services, facilitate financial transactions between the two countries and open broader relation with Cuba in other areas of cooperation. Obama also said he would work with Congress to end other provision of the embargo on Cuba.
The Russian Foreign Ministry welcomed the announcement that Cuba and the United States would restore diplomatic relations. The ministry also said Cuba’s example showed the futility of US-imposed sanctions and isolation.
