Havana, June 12, 2024: In the latest signs of enhancing relations between Russia and Cuba, a nuclear-powered submarine, the Kazan, and other ships are set to dock in Cuba Wednesday for a five-day stay in Havana, the capital of the Cuban socialist state situated on the island near the southernmost point of Florida.
The Kazan was trailed by one of Russia’s newest warships, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, an oil before to replenish its supplies, and a salvage tug. This means that the vessels were located five miles from Havana province, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) from the southernmost point in Florida.
The Cuban government received the news, saying that its Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez was with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on the same day, a symbol of the continuous consolidation of the geopolitical relationship between the two nations.
This positioning of Russia’s military resources beside America arises at a time when Russia has been accused of sponsoring a rebellion in the eastern European country of Ukraine, where the pro-Western government is fighting hard against pro-Russian incursion.
This was the last time that a Russian submarine was to seek an obligatory destination in Cuba, and it was during the Cold War period when Cuba was a strategic client state of Moscow. The stationing of Soviet nuclear missile sites in Cuba had led to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, a serious standoff between Washington and Moscow with the simultaneous risk of a full-scale nuclear confrontation.
Even though CNN quoted the Cuban authorities in saying that the Kazan is not transporting nuclear weapons, the appearance of the formidable Russian submarine and other vessels in the region is viewed by many as a warning to the United States and its partners.
The improvement of relations between Russia and Cuba is notable given that the two countries have recently reaffirmed their cooperation with President Miguel Diaz-Canel of Cuba and Vladimir Putin of Russia in the same meeting.
