Above: the two officials in Havana

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov began a working visit to Cuba on Tuesday.

Lavrov met with Cuban President Raul Castro in what Cuba’s government described as a “fraternal dialogue.”

The two sides discussed “the excellent state of bilateral relations and ratified their willingness to work together on the effective implementation of the bilateral economic agenda and to deepen exchanges in areas of common interest,” Cuba’s government said in an official statement.

Lavrov was joined in Cuba by Russia’s Ambassador in Cuba, along with the country’s director for Latin America.

Castro was joined by the country’s foreign and deputy foreign ministers, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla and Rogelio Sierra Diaz, respectively.