MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. Moscow strongly condemns US pressure on the Cuban leadership, which is clearly aimed at changing the country's government, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry mentioned the charges that the US Department of Justice brought against Cuba’s former head of state and leader of the Revolution, Raul Castro, on May 19, which concern the February 24, 1996 incident where the Cuban Air Force downed two light aircraft that had violated the country’s airspace, killing four people, including three US nationals.

"Thirty years after the incident, attempts are being made to use it to give an air of legitimacy to unprecedented pressure on the Cuban leadership, which is clearly aimed at changing the government in the country and taking it under control. In order to achieve this goal, the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group arrived in the Caribbean Sea," the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.

"It seems that everything possible is being done to signal the possibility of an armed intervention in Cuba. The situation looks similar to the January events in Venezuela," the statement adds.