Ukraine votes against UN Cuba embargo resolution for first time over Russian army recruitment

Ukraine voted against the UN General Assembly resolution "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba," marking the first time Kyiv has opposed this annually adopted document.

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha announced the decision, explaining it as a response to Cuban citizens joining Russian armed forces.

"This step is not sudden and has serious grounds," Sybiha said. He pointed to Cuba's political stance, saying: "We remember the Cuban President's wishes of 'success' to putin in his aggressive war against Ukraine. We heard him well."

The diplomatic shift follows Ukraine's earlier decision this year to close its embassy in Havana and downgrade the level of diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Sybiha emphasized that these measures target government inaction rather than the Cuban people.

"Thousands of them have signed contracts, joining the ranks of soldiers who take direct part in combat operations on Ukrainian soil," the minister said. "Havana's unwillingness to stop the mass recruitment of its citizens into russia's war against Ukraine is complicity in aggression and must be condemned in the strongest terms."

According to US estimates, between 1,000 and 5,000 Cubans are fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukraine.

The resolution in question concerns the US economic embargo against Cuba, the longest-running trade embargo in modern history. The US first imposed an arms sales embargo on Cuba on 14 March 1958, during Fulgencio Batista's regime. On 19 October 1960, nearly two years after the Cuban revolution toppled Batista, the US imposed an export embargo, excluding food and medicine, after Cuba nationalized American oil refineries without compensation. Two years later, the embargo expanded to cover nearly all exports.

Since 1992, the UN General Assembly has annually adopted a resolution demanding an end to the economic embargo of Cuba. The United States and Israel have been the only countries consistently voting against these resolutions. Ukraine had previously abstained from voting several times but never voted against the resolution until now.