Cuba's Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio said the country has no disputes with the United States but would be naive not to prepare for the unlikely possibility of U.S. military aggression, Reuters reported on March 22.

The statements come amid U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated threats to take over Cuba. They also follow Havana's acknowledgement of bilateral talks with Washington amid a monthslong oil blockade that has exacerbated the country's energy, economic and humanitarian crises. On March 16, the Cuban government granted Cubans living abroad and foreign businesses permission to invest in the country's private sector, despite the decades-long U.S. economic embargo.