The United States government is aware of the Russian combat vessels scheduled to arrive in Cuba and to the Caribbean for a military exercise.
“Russia will temporarily send warships to the Caribbean region, and these ships will likely call at ports in Cuba and possibly Venezuela. There may also be some aircraft deployments or flights in the region.”a State Department spokesperson confirmed to Martí News.
The same source said that this summer Russia will carry out intense naval and air activity in the Caribbean, near the United States, and that the actions will culminate in a global Russian naval exercise in the fall.
Nevertheless, The Biden administration does not view the deployment with alarm, as Russia has sent ships to the Western Hemisphere annually from 2013 to 2020.
They specify that “Russia’s deployments are part of routine naval activity,” and of no concern to the US government “as they do not pose a direct threat to the United States.”
An article published this Thursday by the news agency AP already He anticipated that the United States has been tracking Russian vessels and aircraft.
Russia did not notify the United States about the upcoming maneuversas revealed by two officials on condition of anonymity.
Officials said the exercise “without a doubt” It is part of a broader Russian response to US support for Ukraine, but it is also an attempt by Putin to demonstrate that his navy is still capable of projecting global power. after losing several vessels in Ukrainian attacks.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) of Cuba, for its part, announced the next arrival in Havana, on an “official visit”, of several ships of the Russian Navyincluding a nuclear-powered submarine.
“Between June 12 and 17, 2024, an official visit will be made to the port of Havana by a naval detachment of the Russian Federation, composed of four ships: The frigate ‘Gorshkov’, the nuclear-powered submarine ‘Kazan’ , the fleet oil tanker ‘Pashin’ and the rescue tug ‘Nikolai Chiker’”, MINREX announced this Thursday in a statement.
The official note added that the visit is in line with “the historical friendly relations between Cuba and the Russian Federation,” and that “it strictly adheres to the international regulations to which Cuba is a State party.”
The MINREX specified that None of the ships are carrying nuclear weapons and that their stopover in the country does not represent a threat to the region.
The Cuban-American senator Marco Rubio asked President Joe Biden not to sit idly byand recalled that there has not been a Russian submarine with nuclear-capable missiles operating in the Caribbean for more than 30 years.
