US President Donald Trump declared that the United States and Cuba will reach an agreement and said he does not believe military intervention against the island will be necessary.
"I would say that Cuba and we will make a deal. I don't think we will need the military," Trump told reporters at the White House. The US president added that Washington wants to help Cuba and "open Cuba to the American people."
The statement comes at a tense moment in relations between Washington and Havana. The Trump administration has said it aims to change the Cuban government, while the United States has increased economic pressure on the country. A US blockade of oil supplies has further aggravated Cuba's fuel crisis and power outages.
During his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump called Cuba a failed state and declared that freedom would come to the island. The Cuban delegation walked out of the hall during the US president's speech.
On the other hand, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez declared at the UN that Havana remains ready for dialogue with Washington. He said that Cuba is also open to trade and business relations with American companies, while demanding that the dialogue be conducted on the basis of sovereign equality and without preconditions.
Rodriguez also criticized the US embargo, which he described as a punitive measure against the Cuban population. The United States has maintained an economic embargo on Cuba for more than six decades, while the Trump administration has increased pressure on the Havana government.
