Castro's official visit to Russia at the invitation of the Russian president began on January 28 and will last until February 4. His visit is the first by a Cuban leader since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Fidel Castro, Raul's older brother, last visited the U.S.S.R. in 1985.
"During the forthcoming talks the heads of state will focus on issues of expanding development in Russian-Cuban cooperation in the political, business, economic, scientific and humanitarian spheres," the spokesman said.
As part of the formal sessions, the presidents will sign intergovernmental agreements to grant Cuba a food loan, the Kremlin spokesman said. Cuba will be given 25,000 tons of Russian grain "to alleviate the acute food problem," he added.
Earlier Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that a loan of some $20 million to Cuba would be used to buy Russian goods.
Russia's Emergencies Ministry sent four cargo planes of humanitarian aid to Cuba in September 2008 after the country was badly affected by two tropical hurricanes, Gustav and Ike.
"Russia and Cuba hold similar or very close positions on key international relations issues," the spokesman said. "Moscow and Havana are interested in creating effective cooperation to overcome new challenges and threats, including drug trafficking, weapons smuggling and transnational organized crime."
