Authorities in Cuba announced Thursday that a Russian nuclear-powered submarine will visit Havana next week, but it will not be equipped with nuclear weapons.
The Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces said in a statement that the Russian nuclear submarine “Kazan”, accompanied by three ships, including the frigate “Admiral Gorshkov”, in addition to an oil tanker and a rescue tug, will dock in the Cuban capital between June 12 and 17.
The ministry added, “None of the ships carry nuclear weapons. Therefore, their stop in our country does not represent a threat to the region.”
Russia’s unusual step to deploy warships near the United States, especially an advanced submarine, comes amid tension between the two countries due to the crisis in Ukraine.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, last month on the occasion of his attendance at the annual military parade on May 9 in Red Square.
During the Cold War, the deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles on the island sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when Washington and Moscow came close to going to war.
Relations between Russia and Cuba have become closer since the 2022 meeting between Diaz-Canel and Putin.
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