Cubans Line up to Visit Russian Warships in Havana
December, 2008
Cubans waited in long lines to step on board the Russian destroyer Admiral Chabanenko, which sailed into Havana Bay on Friday, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported. Three ships from Russia's Northern Fleet arrived in Havana Bay on Friday as part of the Russian Navy's first visit to Cuba since the Cold War. The Admiral Chabenenko is being escorted by two supply ships, the Ivan Bubnov and the SB-406. The ships will be in port until December 23. On Sunday, the Admiral Chabenenko was opened to the public for excursions. Old and young alike waited for hours in line to get on board the destroyer and talk to the Russian sailors. Whole families came to the port to visit the ships and take photographs. Cubans were not the only ones to visit the ships as Havana has a large number of Russian expats living in the capital. Groups of Russian sailors also got the chance to go ashore to see the sights and walk through Old Havana and visit the capital's museums. The visit to Cuba completes a Caribbean tour by Russian battleships, which included stops in Venezuela, Panama and Nicaragua. Russia announced last year that its Navy had resumed, and would continue, to build up a constant presence throughout the world. Meanwhile, another Northern Fleet task force started a visit to Lisbon on Friday. After the visit, which will last until Monday, the group will sail through the Strait of Gibraltar, visit several ports in the Mediterranean, and take part in joint exercises with Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
Source: http://en.rian.ru/world/20081222/119087101.html
Russia's Latin America Aims Still Unclear: U.S. Official
The recent Russian naval visits to Cuba and Venezuela may be linked to August's Georgia war, said a U.S. diplomat Monday, though he said Washington was watching for the next Kremlin moves before taking a firm view. On a first visit to Moscow that he linked to Russia's growing interest in South and Central America, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon said Russia may be considering a security presence there and warned of a regional arms race. Just weeks after a Russian warship carried out joint exercises with Venezuela and then visited Cuba for the first time since the Cold War, Shannon said Washington would draw its conclusions based on future Russian actions. "What would be telling however, is not this ship visit, it's the next one," said Shannon, responsible for Western Hemisphere relations in the State Dept. "If the purpose of this ship visit was just to make a point about Russia's periphery, if its purpose was just to make a point about Georgia, then we probably won't see them again," "But if the Russians really are attempting to build a more longstanding relationship in the region, then they will look for ways to maintain some presence in their security relationship with partners," Shannon told Reuters in a shared interview.
Immediately after Russia's August war, U.S. warships traveled to Georgian Black Sea ports, a gesture that angered Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who asked how Washington would like it if Russia sent ships close to U.S. waters. In September, Moscow dispatched two Tu-160 nuclear capable bombers to Venezuela and a naval flotilla there, led by the nuclear-powered battle cruiser "Peter the Great." Because of its overwhelming naval presence, the United States was not threatened by Russia in the region, said Shannon. "What's interesting for us about how Russia is engaging in the region is this is not the Soviet Union, they do not bring an ideological purpose to their engagement," he said. Shannon said he did not directly discuss the Georgia conflict during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. But he urged Russia to join patrols in the region if it intended a future presence.
ARMS SALES
Russia's trade interests include arms sales and, while Venezuela has the right to buy weapons, said Shannon, he was concerned an arms race might develop in the region or that decommissioned arms might be sold off to illegal groups. "They're (arms) sold in a context, so when Venezuela buys $4 billion worth of weapons with very high-end aircraft, it has an impact in the region and one consequence of this is the Brazilian decision to modernize its armed forces," said Shannon. Russia and Venezuela have signed 12 arms contracts worth $4.4 billion over the past two years, a Kremlin source said in September when Moscow announced it was providing Caracas with $1 billion in credit for more weapons purchases. Arms sales to Caracas have included 24 Sukhoi fighter jets, dozens of helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles. But Shannon said that, should Russia intend further naval voyages to the region, it should help block drug trafficking. "If the Russian navy intends more Caribbean voyages, it shouldn't just sail around, but do something useful like help patrol the seas."
Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/gc07/i...4BL3ZT20081222
No comments:
Post a Comment
Dear reader,
New blog commentaries will henceforth be posted on an irregular basis. The comment board however will continue to be moderated on a regular basis. You are therefore welcome to post your comments and ideas.
I have come to see the Russian nation as the last front on earth against the scourges of Westernization, Americanization, Globalism, Zionism, Islamic extremism and pan-Turkism. I have also come to see Russia as the last hope humanity has for the preservation of classical western/European civilization, ethnic cultures, Apostolic Christianity and the concept of traditional nation-state. Needless to say, an alliance with Russia is Armenia's only hope for survival in a dangerous place like the south Caucasus. These sobering realizations compelled me to create this blog in 2010. This blog quickly became one of the very few voices in the vastness of Cyberia that dared to preach about the dangers of Globalism and the Anglo-American-Jewish alliance, and the only voice emphasizing the crucial importance of Armenia's close ties to the Russian nation. Today, no man and no political party is capable of driving a wedge between Armenia and Russia. Anglo-American-Jewish and Turkish agenda in Armenia will not succeed. I feel satisfied knowing that at least on a subatomic level I have had a hand in this outcome.
To limit clutter in the comments section, I kindly ask all participants of this blog to please keep comments coherent and strictly relevant to the featured topic of discussion. Moreover, please realize that when there are several "anonymous" visitors posting comments simultaneously, it becomes very confusing (not to mention annoying) trying to figure out who is who and who said what. Therefore, if you are here to engage in conversation, make an observation, express an idea or simply insult me, I ask you to at least use a moniker to identify yourself. Moreover, please appreciate the fact that I have put an enormous amount of information into this blog. In my opinion, most of my blog commentaries and articles, some going back ten-plus years, are in varying degrees relevant to this day and will remain so for a long time to come. Commentaries and articles found in this blog can therefore be revisited by longtime readers and new comers alike. I therefore ask the reader to treat this blog as a historical record and a depository of important information relating to Eurasian geopolitics, Russian-Armenian relations and humanity's historic fight against the evils of Globalism and Westernization.
Thank you as always for reading.