By Dave Sherwood
On Wednesday, Russian military ships churned into Havana bay, a stay that the United States and Cuba claimed posed no threat but which was widely accepted as a Soviet show of force as tensions rise over the Ukraine war.
In mild rain, smaller groups of anglers and curious onlookers greeted the ships as they passed the 400-year-old Morro tower at the harbor’s entry.
A Russian military frigate and nuclear-powered submarine waited offshore, while a gasoline deliver, the “Akademik Pashin,” and a push, the” Nikolay Chiker,” were the first vessels to arrive, and were scheduled to leave by mid-morning.
The past time, the Russian defense ministry reported that the ship and submarine, which were part of the group of four Russian ships that left Cuba on Wednesday, had conducted missile training in the Atlantic Ocean on their way to the beach.
Cuba claimed last week that the visit was routine on marine warships from Havana-friendly nations. The communist- work government’s unusual government said the boats carried no nuclear weapons, things echoed by U. S. officials.
” We have been monitoring the boats ‘ lines closely”, a U. S. national told Reuters on condition of anonymity later on Tuesday. ” At no stage have the tankers or submarine posed a clear threat to the United States.”
Havana is just 100 miles ( 160 km ) from Key West, Florida, home to a U. S. Naval Air Station. And the timing of the visit, in which the Biden administration considers how far the Ukraine can defend itself against Russia, is more than just” regular process,” according to William Leogrande, a professor at American University.
Putin’s use of the visiting Russian warships as a reminder that Moscow is problem Washington in its own sphere of influence, Leogrande said.
The stay coincides with Cuba’s worst social and economic crises in years, with growing dissatisfaction on the streets and food shortages.
” This… has sounds of the Cold War, but unlike the first Cold War, the Cubans are drawn to Moscow not by intellectual affection but by monetary necessity”, Leogrande said.
Cuba has a lot of background, especially when it comes to Russia and its former Soviet Union.
When the Soviet Union responded to a U.S. missile implementation in Turkey by sending nuclear weapons to Cuba in 1962, causing a conflict that brought the world on the verge of nuclear war, the situation erupted.
Once more, the two nations are bolstering relations.
Vladimir Putin and Cuba’s leader Miguel Diaz-Canel met for the third time in May at a military parade and asserted that Moscow was always rely on Havana’s support.
In order to combat shortages, Russia in March delivered 90 000 measurement tons of Russian crude to Cuba, and it has pledged to support Havana in initiatives ranging from honey production to system, solar energy, and commerce.
The Soviet navy ships are expected to stay in Havana until June 17.
( Reporting by Dave Sherwood, Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Editing by Daniel Wallis )
