WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has been tracking Russian warships and aircraft expected to arrive in the Caribbean for a military exercise in the coming weeks, in a show of Russian force as tensions rise over Western military support for Ukraine, officials said from the USA. Wednesday.
The ships are also expected to make port calls in Venezuela and Cuba as Russia establishes a military presence in the Western Hemisphere that senior Biden administration officials have said is notable but not worrisome. The exercise, which will be monitored by the US military, will involve a “handful” of Russian ships and support vessels, the two officials said.
This is not the first time that Russia has sent ships to the Caribbean. This exercise, however, is taking place while the Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that Moscow could take “asymmetric steps” in other parts of the world in response to the President Joe Biden’s decision allow Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons to attack inside Russia and protect Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.
The officials, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been publicly announced, said the exercise is “certainly” part of Russia’s broader response to U.S. support for Ukraine, but it is also an effort by Putin. . to show that his navy is still capable of global power projection after losing several ships to Ukrainian attacks.
Ukrainian military officials said in March that Russia had lost a third of its Black Sea fleet to Ukrainian attacks during the last two years of war.
Russia did not notify the U.S. of the pending exercise, but the ships’ movements were monitored by the U.S. Navy, officials said.
Although Russia did not notify the U.S. — which countries often do to avoid miscalculations — officials said militaries around the world have the right to conduct exercises in international waters and to do so regularly. For example, on Friday, about 20 NATO countries, including the US, will begin BALTOPS 24, a major naval and air exercise in the Baltic region near Russia.
Officials said they expect Russian ships to remain in the region through the summer and will likely conduct similar follow-up exercises in the Caribbean after this one concludes.
Officials said Congress was notified of the upcoming Russian exercises on Wednesday.
