(SeaPRwire) –   Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío stated Sunday that Cuba is preparing for potential U.S. aggression, even as Trump administration officials have recently indicated they are not planning an invasion.

“Our military is always ready, and in fact, it’s preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression,” Fernández de Cossío told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” during an interview that aired Sunday.

“We’d be naive not to do that when looking at what’s happening around the world.”

“But we truly hope it doesn’t happen. We don’t see why it would have to occur, and we find no justification whatsoever — why would the U.S. government force its country to take military action against a neighboring nation like Cuba?”

The Cuban official’s remarks come just days after President Donald Trump said it would be “a big honor” to be the president with the “honor of taking Cuba.”

“Taking Cuba in some form, yeah, taking Cuba — I mean, whether I free it or take it: honestly, I think I can do anything I want with it,” Trump said, despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressing diplomacy with the failing regime over any invasion talk that Trump’s statement might suggest.

“They’re in a lot of trouble, and the people in charge don’t know how to fix it,” Rubio said this week. “So they need new people in charge.”

But Fernández de Cossío said Cuba is “absolutely” opposed to regime change, signaling defiance of Trump and Rubio’s public statements and laying the groundwork for potential future military action.

“Our country has historically been ready to mobilize as a whole nation for military aggression,” he told NBC’s Kristen Welker. “We always see it as something far from us. We don’t believe it’s probable. But we’d be naive not to prepare. That’s what I can tell you.”

Asked if Cuba was bracing for the U.S. “to take it in some form,” Fernández de Cossío replied: “Truly, we don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“But I can tell you this: Cuba is a sovereign country with the right to remain sovereign and to self-determine,” he added. “Cuba would not accept becoming a vassal state or a dependent state of any other country or superpower.”

Fernández de Cossío said Cuba was prepared to negotiate with Rubio despite the secretary of state’s long-standing criticism of the Cuban government.

“We’re ready to negotiate with whoever the U.S. government, as a sovereign nation, designates as their spokesperson and lead negotiator — we’re ready to negotiate with anyone the U.S. government chooses,” he said. “They’re a sovereign nation. We don’t interfere with that.”

Throughout the interview, the Cuban diplomat cast Havana’s position as defensive, saying Cuba “has no quarrel with the United States” and wants “a respectful relationship,” while blaming the island’s worsening energy and economic crisis on U.S. pressure — including efforts to choke off fuel supplies. Recent reporting has documented Cuba’s deepening blackout crisis and the Trump administration’s increased efforts to isolate the government economically.

“What does ‘on its own’ mean when the U.S. is forcing it?” Fernández de Cossío said when asked about Trump’s claim that Cuba could collapse on its own. “It’s a very bizarre statement.”

His closing message to Trump was conciliatory, even as he warned Cuba was preparing for the worst.

“Cuba has no quarrel with the United States,” Fernández de Cossío said. “We do have the need and the right to protect ourselves. 

“But we’re willing to sit down, we’re open for discussions, and we’re all open to having a respectful relationship that I’m sure most Americans would support — and I’m sure the U.S. president would too, if we could sit down and talk meaningfully about it.”