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The statement came at a time when the United States is exerting increasing and intense pressure on the island nation.

In recent weeks, tensions between the United States and Cuba have escalated. President Donald Trump threatened to impose punitive tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba and reportedly asked Mexico to freeze its oil exports to the country.

After the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Cuba lost a key source of oil imports, and Cuba’s foreign minister said the country’s population would be “exposed to extreme living conditions.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that as a result of the situation, food and other “humanitarian aid” would be sent to Cuba.

At the same time, Trump said on Sunday that the United States had begun negotiations with Cuba, though the purpose and structure of the talks remain unclear.

Trump told reporters on Sunday, “Cuba is a failed country. It has been that way for a long time, but now it no longer has a Venezuela that can sustain it. That’s why we are holding talks with Cuba’s top leaders to see what will happen.”