US submarine enters Cuban bay after arrival of Russian warships there

A US Navy submarine has entered Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in a show of force after four Russian warships entered the port of Havana.

As reported by ABC News, the US Southern Command reported that the USS Helena nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine entered waters near a US base in Cuba on Thursday – just a day after a Russian frigate, nuclear submarine, oil tanker, and rescue tug entered Havana Bay after exercises in the Atlantic Ocean.

The stop is part of "routine naval visits," the command said.

Other US vessels are also tracking and monitoring the Russian exercises.

The drills come less than two weeks after President Joe Biden authorised Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin suggested at the time that his military could respond with "asymmetric steps" anywhere in the world.

Russia is a long-standing ally of Venezuela and Cuba, and its warships and aircraft periodically make sorties to the Caribbean.

The White House and the Pentagon have said that they see no military threats related to the arrival of Russian warships in the port of Havana.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement aimed at strengthening Kyiv's defence capabilities.