A Russian nuclear submarine will make a stop in Havana next week, Cuban authorities said Thursday.
The nuclear-powered submarine Kazan and three other Russian warships, including the missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov, an oil tanker and a rescue tug, will arrive in the Cuban capital from June 12 to 17, Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces Ministry said in a statement.
“None of the vessels carry nuclear weapons, so their docking in our country does not pose a threat to the region,” the ministry said.
Yesterday we wrote that the Kremlin plans to hold maritime military exercises in the Caribbean. The planned exercises are “certainly” part of Russia's response to growing US support for Ukraine, the AP news agency reported, citing US officials. They said Moscow is trying to demonstrate that it is still a major military power amid escalating relations with the West. However, this does not cause concern in the White House.
It should be noted that the Russian military exercises in the Caribbean and the call of warships in the ports of Cuba coincide with Biden's visit to the summit of G7 leaders in Italy, which will be held July 13-15.
Earlier, US President Biden said that Ukraine could launch strikes with US weapons deep inside Russia, but not more than 300 kilometers. In response, Putin said he would start supplying long-range weapons to regions that could launch “sensitive strikes” against Ukraine's allies.
Recall that Cuba was an important ally of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Soviets placed their nuclear missile facilities on the island, which provoked the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when the world was on the brink of nuclear war.
