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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