"Back to the Future" - Putin embraces Fidel Castro.

"Back to the Future" - Putin embraces Fidel Castro.(DM).

Vladimir Putin dropped in on one of Russia's old Cold War allies on Friday, as he began a six-day tour of Latin American with a state visit to Cuba.

The tour included a rare public appearance with the country's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, who has been seen in public since the start of the year.

Putin and the 87-year-old leader met to discuss international relations and the economy, as Moscow sought to strengthen ties with its old friend.

The Russian president was also pictured embracing Fidel Castro's younger brother Raul, who took over leadership in 2008. The meetings have been seen by analysts as further attempts to snub the West over its Ukraine sanctions. Cuba and the other countries Putin is due to visit on the trip have been sympathetic or not overly critical of Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.

Before leaving for his Latin America tour, Putin also made remarks on cyber-espionage, saying: 'This is not just blatant hypocrisy in relations between allies and partners. According to the Business Recorder Putin, whose country provided asylum to Ed Snowden, said: 'It is also direct infringement of a country's sovereignty and a breach of human rights, an invasion of privacy.'

His comments came as the CIA chief based in Berlin was asked to leave over allegations that the U.S. spied on Germany's Angela Merkel.

In Cuba, Castro and Putin strengthened their ties, using the official tour to sign about a dozen accords in energy, industry, health and disaster prevention. Shortly before the visit, Moscow wrote off more than $35 billion of Cuba's Soviet-era debt. Speaking about the debt agreement, which clears 90 percent of what Cuba owes, Raul Castro said it was 'another great, tangible generosity of the Russian people toward Cuba.'

In a further sign of Putin turning his back on the West, the Cuban government website announced that Russian companies are to take part in petroleum projects around Boca de Jaruco on Cuba's north coast, and that cooperation will extend to offshore oil deposits.Read the full story here.