A Canadian Navy patrol boat has arrived in Havana. CubaEarly Friday morning, hours after the United States announced that a fast attack submarine had docked at its Guantanamo Bay naval base, both events followed the arrival of Russian warships to the island earlier this week.

Confluence Russian, Canadian and American ships in Cuba – a Communist-ruled island nation just 100 miles from Florida – served as a reminder of old Cold War tensions and damaged ties between Russia and Western countries over the war in Ukraine.

However, both the United States and Cuba have stated that Russian warships pose no threat for the region. Russia also described the arrival of its warships in Cuba as routine.

The frigate Almirante Gorshkov and the nuclear submarine Kazan entered Havana harbor on Wednesday afterconduct training with “high-precision missiles” in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Canadian patrol ship Margaret Brook began maneuvers early Friday morning to enter the port of Havana as part of what the Canadian Joint Operations Command called a “port visit (…) in recognition of the long-standing bilateral relationship between Canada and Cuba“.

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Hours earlier, US Southern Command said Fast attack submarine Helena He arrived on a routine visit to the port of Guantanamo Bay, a US naval base on the southeastern tip of the island, about 850 kilometers from Havana.

“The location and transit of the ship were planned in advance,” Southern Command said in X.

A Canadian diplomat described the Margaret Brooke’s arrival as “a common occurrence and part of a long-standing cooperation between our two countries,” adding that “This was not related to the presence of Russian ships”.

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Russia and Cuba were close allies in the former Soviet Union. and tensions with Washington over communism in its backyard came to a head during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Moscow, which maintains ties with Havana, this week questioned the West’s apparent nervousness about the warships.

Russian warships are expected to remain in the port of Havana until June 17. (RTS)