Cuban diplomat says no US dialogue yet, but Cuba is open if criteria met

Cuban diplomat signals room for “informal dialogue” as Trump ramps pressure

Deputy Cuban Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío told The Associated Press that Cuba is not yet in a dialogue with the United States, but he said Havana is open to “informal dialogue” if certain criteria are met. His comments came as tensions remained high between the two governments and as Trump’s administration escalated pressure on Cuba, including through tariff threats connected to oil shipments.

Cossío said Cuba’s position is that it is not talking specifically about “negotiation yet,” adding, “That’s another issue.” He then said, “We are open to dialogue,” explaining, “If we can have a dialogue, maybe that can lead to negotiation.” Cossío described the opening as potentially taking the form of “informal dialogue” with the aim of ensuring “a respectable, serious coexistence in spite of the differences between our two countries.”

While signaling potential engagement, Cossío drew boundaries around what Cuba will not discuss. He stressed that Cuba’s constitution, economy and system of government—described as socialist—are off the table, even as “many, many other issues” remain open for discussion.

The diplomat spoke amid a worsening strain on Cuba’s economy and energy situation, which Cuban officials have tied to sanctions and disruptions in fuel supplies. The AP reported that Cuba is facing an acute economic crisis, ongoing blackouts, and a disruption in oil shipments from Venezuela. It said Cuban officials estimate U.S. sanctions have cost the country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025.

The AP said Cuba had relied heavily on oil shipments from Venezuela, but those shipments were disrupted after the U.S. attacked Venezuela’s partner country on Jan. 3 and arrested its president. Asked how long Cuba can sustain its current conditions, Cossío told AP that he could not reveal “any avenue” the island has to ensure petroleum supply or to cope with what he described as “a very difficult situation.”

Cossío said Cuba is preparing with “creativity,” “stoicism and…austerity,” and added, “What can Cuba do? Just watch us.” In a separate development, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by telephone with Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, according to a statement from Russia’s government. Russia said the two discussed bilateral cooperation and Lavrov pledged “the necessary political and material support,” while condemning what it characterized as unacceptable “economic and military pressure against Cuba, including the obstruction of energy supplies to the island,” adding such actions would lead to a “serious deterioration” in the country’s economic and humanitarian situation.

In Washington, meanwhile, Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs and described Cuba as a “failing nation,” saying it “looks like it’s something that’s just not going to be able to survive.” The AP reported that Trump has also said he asked Mexico to suspend oil shipments to Cuba. On Sunday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced she would send food and other humanitarian aid to Cuba and said her government was trying to “diplomatically solve everything related to the oil shipments” to the island.

The diplomatic outreach has also played out against a backdrop of public tensions around U.S. engagement in Cuba. The AP reported that Mike Hammer, the U.S. chief of mission in Cuba, has been traveling around the island and posting videos on social media about meetings with Cubans, including cases where people invited him into their homes despite outages. But the AP also reported that in a video posted elsewhere on social media, a group of angry Cubans confronted Hammer in the province of Camagüey, shouting “Down with the blockade!” and “Murderer!” and calling Trump “Trump’s puppet.”

The AP said the U.S. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs responded by demanding Cuba “stop its repressive acts of sending individuals to interfere with the diplomatic work” of Hammer and other embassy members. The bureau said on X that U.S. diplomats would “continue to meet with the Cuban people despite the regime’s failed intimidation tactics.”

In his AP interview, Cossío also sought to frame Cuba’s stance toward U.S.-Cuba relations as non-threatening. “Cuba is a peaceful country,” he said, adding, “We only wish to relate with the United States in the way we relate with the rest of the world. The United States is the exception today.”