MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Thursday there was no reason for any country, including the United States, to be worried about the presence of Russian warships in Cuba on an exercise.
A Russian navy frigate and a nuclear-powered submarine churned into Havana harbour on Wednesday, a stopover the U.S. and Cuba said posed no threat but which was widely seen as a Russian show of force as tensions rise over the Ukraine war.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said there was no evidence of Russia transferring any missiles to Cuba, but that the U.S. would remain vigilant.
When asked about purported nervousness in Washington over the fear that Russia could transfer 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 a 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 Admiral Gorshkov frigate and the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, half submerged with its crew on deck, sailed to Cuba on Wednesday after conducting “high-precision missile weapons” training in the Atlantic Ocean.
Cuba’s foreign ministry said the vessels carried no nuclear weapons, an assertion echoed by U.S. officials.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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