Russian warships will be deployed to the Caribbean Sea next week, the Cuban foreign ministry confirmed on June 6.
The four Russian navy ships do not carry any nuclear weapons and will not present a threat to the region, Cuba’s foreign ministry said in a statement, confirming reports that cited unnamed U.S. officials.
The ministry’s statement added that Russian sailors will visit various Cuban government officials and places of “historical and cultural interest” and undertake other “activities.”
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defense Ministry have not issued public comments on the forthcoming visit.
The announcement out of Cuba comes one day after an unnamed U.S. official told reporters from several media outlets that Russia had plans to send combat vessels into the Caribbean region, including to its allies Cuba and Venezuela, to conduct naval exercises.
The Russian ships are expected to arrive in Havana Harbor between June 12 and June 17, according to the Cuban statement.
It’s not the first time Russia has sent ships to the Caribbean region, but it comes after the Kremlin said on June 6 that Western nations that supply Ukraine with weapons to strike Russian territory will have to reckon with Russia.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Western leaders need to “reckon” with Russia and its “position.”
“We won’t compromise our interests,” Mr. Peskov said.
When asked earlier on June 6 by reporters whether the Kremlin would name countries or regions to which Russia might supply arms in this way, he said no.
“It’s a very important statement that is very transparent that the supply of weapons that will be fired at us cannot go without consequences, and those consequences are certain to come,” he said.
His remarks came after Mr. Putin told an international conference of top news editors this week: “We are thinking that if someone thinks it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone in order to strike at our territory and create problems for us, then why do we not have the right to supply our weapons of the same class to those regions of the world where there will be strikes on sensitive facilities of those countries that are doing this to Russia?
“So the response could be symmetrical. We will think about this.”
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told Reuters and other news outlets in May that Ukraine had the right to use weapons provided by the UK to hit targets inside Russia.
In the meantime, tensions between the United States and Russia remain elevated. During comments on June 6, President Joe Biden criticized the Russian president, referring to him as “a dictator” who is “struggling to make sure he holds his country together while still keeping this assault going.”
“We’re not talking about giving [Ukraine] weapons to strike Moscow, to strike the Kremlin, to strike ... it’s just across the border, where they’re receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into ... Ukraine, to kill the Ukrainians,” President Biden told ABC News on June 6.
Regarding weapons used by Ukraine, the president said that they are “authorized to be used in proximity to the border.”
“We’re not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia, we’re not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin,” he said.
“Let the United States and its allies now feel the direct use of Russian weapons by third parties,” he said, according to a translation. “These individuals or regions are deliberately not named, but they could be anyone who considers [the United States] and its comrades their enemies. Regardless of their political beliefs and international recognition.”
The Epoch Times contacted the U.S. Department of Defense for comment on Cuba’s statement about the Russian naval ships but received no reply by press time.
