The US should lift its blockade on Cuba rather than offer aid to the struggling island, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Thursday, as the country endures worsening power cuts.

His comments came the same day CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials in Havana. The meeting took place “in a context marked by the complexity of bilateral relations, with the aim of contributing to the political dialogue between both nations”, a Cuban government statement read.

Exchanges “made it possible to demonstrate categorically that Cuba does not constitute a threat to US national security, nor are there any legitimate reasons to include it on the list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism”, the statement added.

Cuba “has never supported any hostile activity against the United States, nor will it permit actions against any other nation to be carried out from Cuba”, the statement emphasised, referring to allegations of a Chinese presence.

The Central Intelligence Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Cuba’s energy crisis has deepened since January when the United States imposed an oil blockade on the communist-run island of 9.6 million people.