Copyright tass
UN, October 29. /TASS/. The UN General Assembly has again adopted a resolution calling on the United States to remove economic, commercial and financial sanctions against Cuba. The document was supported by 165 countries, including Russia and Belarus. The United States, Argentina, Hungary, Israel, Paraguay, North Macedonia and Ukraine voted against, while 12 countries abstained. Besides calling for the lifting of economic restrictions, the resolution requires the UN secretary general to prepare a report on its implementation. UN General Assembly resolutions have no binding legal status. The United States severed diplomatic ties and imposed a trade and economic embargo on Cuba in 1961 in response to the nationalization of American property on the island. In 2014, US President Barack Obama admitted that Washington's previous policy towards Havana was not working, and began moving towards normalizing the ties and easing sanctions. Diplomatic relations were restored in 2015. The rapprochement between the two countries stopped after Republican Donald Trump came to power in 2017. He tightened the rules for Americans to travel to the republic and banned business with the organizations controlled by the Cuban military. Cuba calls the blockade the main reason for its difficult economic situation and demands that it be lifted. Russia has traditionally supported Cuba.
