Russia and the United States display their warships around Cuba

Russia said Thursday that the United States should not be nervous about the presence of Russian warships in Cubabut that the West seemed to turn a deaf ear to any diplomatic signal from Moscow and only took notice when the Army or Navy went into action.

A Russian navy frigate and a nuclear-powered submarine arrived in Havana port on Wednesday, a stop that the United States and Cuba said posed no threat but was widely seen as a show of Russian force as increasing tensions due to the war in Ukraine.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said there was no evidence that Russia transferred missiles to Cuba, but that the United States would remain vigilant.

Asked about alleged nervousness in Washington over fears that Russia could move military personnel to Cuba or even create a military base on the island, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such exercises were common practice.

“This is normal practice for all states, including such a large maritime power as Russia,” Peskov told reporters. “So we don’t see any reason to worry in this case.”

The frigate Almirante Gorshkov and the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, half submerged with its crew on deck, arrived in Cuba on Wednesday after doing “high-precision missile weapons” training in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry stated that the ships did not carry nuclear weapons, a claim echoed by US officials.

Asked what signal Moscow was sending, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the West never seemed to notice when Russia sent signals through diplomatic channels.

“When it comes to maneuvers or sea voyages, we immediately hear questions and the desire to know what these messages are about,” Zakharova said. “Why do only signals related only to our Army and Navy reach the West?”

“Why does the West remain completely deaf, and then invent the most powerful campaigns to prevent Russian signals from entering its information realm?”

Guantánamo as a response from the US

This Thursday a United States Navy submarine arrived in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in what some see as the Pentagon’s response to the Russian military presence in Havana. However, SouthCom has rejected it.

The US Southern Command said the USS Helena, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, arrived in waters near the US base in Cuba on Thursday. The stop is part of a “routine port visit” as the submarine travels through the Southern Command region, he claimed in a post on social media.

Other American ships have also been tracking and monitoring Russian exercises, which Pentagon officials say do not pose a threat to the United States.

“This is not a surprise. We have seen them make these types of port calls before,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Wednesday when she was asked about the Russian exercises. “Of course we take it seriously, but these exercises do not pose a threat to the United States.”

[Con información de Reuters y AP]

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