For the first time in 25 years the US will abstain on the UN Security Council resolution that condemns the US economic embargo against Cuba, said the US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, reports the BBC. According to Power, this step will be made in accordance with President Barack Obama's policy aimed at improving relationship with Cuba. At that she noted that Washington does not agree with the point of the resolution, which says that the embargo is a violation of international law. Power stressed that the decision does not mean that the United States fully supports the policies of the Cuban government. " We are profoundly concerned by the serious human rights violations that the Cuban government continues to commit with impunity against its own people," she said. In the last quarter of a century, the United States has voted against similar resolutions every year. Last year, the resolution was approved by 191 UN member states; only the United States and Israel voted against.

The relationship between the US and Cuba began improving, after the president Barack Obama had come to power. The US leader arrived in Cuba in March, where he met with the country's current leader Raul Castro. It has been the first US president’s visit to Cuba since 1928. Many American companies now openly enter the Cuban market, although a part of working restrictions is still preserved on the island.