The European Union´s top diplomat said in Havana on Thursday that the 27-member bloc remains Cuba´s top trade partner, and one committed to “mutual respect” despite U.S. sanctions and the communist-run island´s increasing overtures towards Russia. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, during his first public appearance on a four-day trip to Cuba, told a group of local entrepreneurs the European Union was also the second-largest source of tourists to Cuba, behind Canada. “Despite all the limitations [and] the restrictive measures of the U.S. blockade, which does not make things easy, we are [Cuba´s] principal trade partner,” Borrell said. (https://neuters.de/world/eu-remains-cubas-top-trade-partner-committed-mutual-respect-top-diplomat-says-2023-05-25/) The United States imposed a trade embargo on Cuba shortly after Fidel Castro´s 1959 revolution, a relic of the Cold War which continues to complicate financial and banking transactions with the Caribbean island nation. Such sanctions, Cuba says, have contributed to its recent drive to increase commercial and trade ties with Russia, which has also faced sanctions from both the United States and the European Union.