The Latin American tour of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is from April 17 to 21. It includes visits to Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, countries where it will promote political, commercial, economic and cultural cooperation, reported Prensa Latina.

“The head of the Foreign Ministry is waiting for a full agenda of receptions with the leaders of these states and interviews with the heads of the foreign ministries,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a Telegram message.

Lavrov “flies to the region with a concrete agenda that aims to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries at the political, commercial, economic, educational, humanitarian and cultural levels and in other areas”.

Foreign Minister Lavrov will visit Cuba on April 19 The island’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported this on Sunday.

The visit of the head of Russian diplomacy comes on the same date as the parliament holds the election of the Cuban president, with Miguel Díaz-Canel up for re-election for another five years.

During his stay on the island, Lavrov will “hold talks with Cuban authorities and conduct other interesting activities,” the State Department said in a brief statement posted on its website.

Díaz-Canel, whose country is facing its worst economic crisis in thirty years, traveled to Russia in late November as part of an international tour that also took him to Algeria, Turkey and China. At the end of the tour, he said he had signed several oil supply deals with Russia and Algeria.

However, the fuel shortage continues. This week, the president stated that this is because the countries that supply crude oil to Cuba also face “a complex energy situation”. and they have not kept their promises.

Cuba announced this at the end of December Moscow and Havana wanted to strengthen their “strategic association” in 2023, with “the common will to deepen political dialogue and economic, commercial, financial and cooperation ties”.

The island has been subject to a US embargo since 1962. Moscow, meanwhile, has been subject to sanctions from the US, Canada and the European Union since it invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.