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The Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) confirmed this Tuesday that Russia is fulfilling several military-technical cooperation contracts with Cuba and that both countries are negotiating new areas for future collaboration, according to statements made to the agency Interfax during the International Security Forum taking place from May 26 to 29 in the Moscow region.
"Russia and Cuba have long-standing partnerships in the field of technical-military cooperation. Given the U.S. blockade of the island, our support is particularly important for our Cuban partners," stated the FSVTS, which also clarified that "today the obligations undertaken under several signed contracts are being fulfilled, and promising areas are being discussed, taking into account the priorities of the Cuban side."
The announcement comes at one of the highest points of tension between Washington and Havana in decades, representing an explicit endorsement from Moscow of Miguel Díaz-Canel's regime amid an unprecedented escalation in diplomatic and military confrontations.
The most recent trigger for this escalation was a report published on May 17 by Axios, based on classified U.S. intelligence, claiming that Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones from Russia and Iran since 2023, with potential plans to employ them against the Guantanamo naval base, U.S. military vessels, and Key West, Florida.
The same report indicated that up to 5,000 Cuban soldiers may have fought for Russia in Ukraine, with Moscow paying about $25,000 per fighter, and that some had shared knowledge about drone warfare with military commanders in Havana.
Last Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, María Zajárova, categorically denied that information, labeling it as "fiction" within the framework of an "information war," although she also stated that Russia "maintains contact with Cuba on all matters of interest to our two countries."
The response from Washington has been firm. On May 20, Trump warned that the U.S. will not tolerate Cuba as a state that hosts hostile operations just ninety miles from its territory, in a presidential message issued in honor of Cuba's Independence Day.
On that same day, the Treasury Department sanctioned nine high-ranking Cuban officials and three entities, including Cuba's Directorate of Intelligence (DGI/G2).
On May 1, Trump had already signed a new executive order that expands sanctions against Cuba, including the energy, defense, mining, and financial services sectors, and authorizing secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions.
The Russian support for the Cuban regime has a legal foundation formalized in March 2025, when both governments signed an intergovernmental military cooperation agreement. Putin formalized this agreement with his signature on October 15, 2025, following its ratification by the Duma and the Federation Council.
Russian analysts have warned, however, that Moscow —immersed in the war in Ukraine— can only provide real political support to Havana, without the capacity for an economic or military bailout comparable to that of the Soviet era.
This Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that voices close to Rubio and Trump are betting on "total pressure" until a regime change is achieved in Cuba, suggesting a new twist in the confrontation between Washington and Havana, with Moscow as a backdrop.
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