Above: Raul Castro (UN Photo/Mark Garten)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Cuba’s Raul Castro met Friday with Valentina Matvienko, chairman of Russia’s Federation Council, who is on a visit to Cuba.

The Federation Council is the upper house of Russia’s Federal Assembly.

During the talks in Havana, the two sides discussed what a government statement called the “excellent state of bilateral relations.”

Castro was joined by Esteban Lazo, president of Cuba’s National Assembly, and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla.

Matvienko was joined by a small delegation as well.

The talks came three months after the visit to Cuba by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in February.