China, Russia Back Cuba After US Indicts Raúl Castro

Beijing and Moscow have separately condemned the U.S.’s indictment of Cuba’s former President Raúl Castro and voiced solidarity with the Caribbean nation amid Washington’s pressure campaign.

The U.S. must stop wielding the “big sticks” of judicial proceedings and sanctions and cease its threats of force against Cuba, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

Guo said China opposes unilateral sanctions that lack basis under international law or approval by the United Nations Security Council.

Russia echoed China in a separate statement, strongly condemning what it called “gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, intimidation, and the use of illegal unilateral restrictive measures, threats, and blackmail,” its Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press conference.

Russia would “continue to provide the most active support to the fraternal Cuban people,” she said.

Castro and several other Cuban nationals were indicted by the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday for their alleged role in the 1996 shootdown two civilian aircraft operated by an activist group tied to exiled opposition forces.

Castro stepped down from the presidency in 2018 after a decade in office, but the 94-year-old remains influential in the country’s politics.

This is a developing story. More to follow.

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 6:36 AM.