Russian navy ships will head to Cuba just weeks after a flotilla docked in Havana, raising concerns about the Kremlin’s intentions in the Western Hemisphere.
Ships of the Russian Baltic Fleet arrive in Havana on Saturday, including the training ship Smolnythe frigate Neustrachimy and the oil tanker He shoutedsaid the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba (MINFAR).
“The visit of ships from other countries is a historical practice of the revolutionary government with countries with which we have friendly and cooperative relations,” the ministry added in a message posted on Facebook.
YAMIL LAGE
“The Russian sailors will carry out a program that includes a courtesy visit to the commander of the Revolutionary Naval Armed Forces of Cuba and the governor of the Cuban capital,” and the crew will also visit cultural and historical sites in Havana, the ministry said in the statement reported by Russian media.
The public will be able to visit the Russian ships during the voyage, which, according to the Cuban Foreign Ministry, “strictly complies with international regulations to which Cuba is a party.”
Newsweek contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
The planned visit, which ends on July 30, comes just a month after a flotilla of the Russian Northern Fleet, led by the frigate Admiral Gorshkov and the nuclear submarine Kazansailed to the Cuban capital ahead of military exercises in the Caribbean Sea.
U.S. officials said the Biden administration had said the exercises were routine and likely a response to Washington’s support for Ukraine in the war started by Vladimir Putin.
However, the ships, as well as the tanker Pashin and the rescue tug Nicolas Chicker, A ship sailed near Florida en route to the Cuban capital, with an open satellite tracking a ship less than 30 miles from Key Largo, sparking speculation that it was a show of military force by Moscow in America’s backyard.
American and Canadian warships, including the destroyer USS Truxtun and the coast guard, as well as the Canadian frigate HMCS Quebec City, were stationed off the coast of Miami to monitor Russian ships.
Two of the ships then docked in La Guaira, a port city in Venezuela, a Russian ally. The maneuvers came after exercises in the Atlantic Ocean that the Russian Defense Ministry said were aimed at demonstrating Moscow’s naval presence in “remote areas of the oceans.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
