Ukraine crisis affects start of EU talks with Cuba

Ukraine crisis affects start of EU talks with Cuba
By Daniel Trotta

HAVANA (Reuters) - The European Union told Cuba on Wednesday it
disagreed with its support of Russia in the Ukraine crisis as the
dispute cast a shadow over talks aimed at improving relations between
the communist-run island and European countries.

"It's a point of great concern to the EU," the EU's chief negotiator in
the talks, Christian Leffler, told reporters in Havana.

Negotiators for the 28-nation bloc and Cuba met on Tuesday and Wednesday
in Havana for a first round of talks. Only the European side spoke about
the meetings afterward.

Leffler said the differences over Ukraine did not affect the talks but
were an example of what would be discussed in future discussions.

Speaking hours before the first meeting, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno
Rodriguez publicly criticized the European Union and the United States
for imposing sanctions on a number of Russian officials.

"Cuba energetically rejects the imposition of sanctions against Russia,
knowing that those who impose them are the same governments that have
launched wars of conquests that intervene in the internal affairs of
sovereign countries and provoke the destabilization of governments that
don't go along with their interests of domination," Rodriguez said in an
appearance with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was in Havana.

Leffler said Rodriguez's comment did not affect the two days of talks
but that he had raised the Ukraine issue in a separate meeting with him.

"We clearly disagree with this assessment of EU policy towards Ukraine
and towards Russia in the context of the Ukrainian crisis," Leffler told
the news conference.

Russia annexed the Crimea region after Ukraine's pro-Moscow president
was ousted in February by protesters demanding closer links with Europe.
Kiev and the West accuse Russia of stirring up a separatist campaign in
the east, a charge Moscow denies.

Leffler, a Swede who heads European diplomacy in the Americas, said the
Ukraine crisis raised issues of sovereignty and territorial integrity
that the European Union considers fundamental.

Cuba has stood by Moscow, formerly the closest of allies and a crucial
economic supporter of Cuba in the days of the Soviet Union.

Cuba's relations with the EU have been frayed since European member
states adopted a "common position" in 1996 that placed human rights and
democracy as conditions for improving ties With the Caribbean country.

The two sides recently agreed to open discussions on issues such as
human rights, trade and investment.

Leffler said the talks this week were "very constructive."

"There was a clear interest on both sides to come to a quick, common
understanding of what the bases are for this negotiation," he said.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Kieran Murray)

Source: Ukraine crisis affects start of EU talks with Cuba - Yahoo News
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