US expecting Russian naval exercises in Caribbean this summer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Russia plans to send combat vessels into the Caribbean region this summer as part of naval exercises that will likely include port calls in Cuba and possibly stops in Venezuela, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.

The United States does not see the move involving a relatively small number of vessels and planes as threatening, but the U.S. Navy will monitor the exercises, the official told a small group of reporters.

The deployments are seen as part of routine naval activity and “we are not concerned by Russia’s deployments, which pose no direct threat to the United States,” the official said.

“We are expecting that Russia will temporarily send combat naval vessels to the Caribbean region,” he added.