Russian warships arrive in Cuba ahead of military exercises, just two weeks after Biden approved Ukraine using American weapons inside Russia, in a sinister echo of the Cold War.

Russian warships arrived in Cuba this week ahead of planned military exercises reminiscent of the Cold War missile crisis.

The fleet, made up of a frigate, a nuclear-powered submarine, a tanker and a rescue tug, crossed into Havana Bay after carrying out exercises in the Atlantic Ocean.

U.S. officials expect the ships to remain in the region through the summer and possibly also stop in Venezuela.

Russia is a long-standing ally of Venezuela and Cuba, and its warships and planes have periodically made raids in the Caribbean.

But this mission comes less than two weeks after President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons to strike inside Russia and protect Kharkiv.

The fleet, made up of a frigate, a nuclear-powered submarine, a tanker and a rescue tug, crossed into the Bay of Havana after exercises in the Atlantic Ocean

U.S. officials expect the ships to remain in the region through the summer and possibly also stop in Venezuela.

Russia is a long-standing ally of Venezuela and Cuba, and its warships and planes have periodically made raids in the Caribbean.

“The warships are a reminder to Washington that it is unpleasant when an adversary meddles in the near abroad,” said Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America Program at the Washington-based think tank Wilson Center.

Although the fleet includes one nuclear-powered submarine, a senior U.S. administration official said the intelligence community has determined that no vessels are carrying nuclear weapons.

Russian ships have occasionally docked in Havana since 2008, when a group of Russian vessels entered Cuban waters in what state media described as the first such visit in nearly two decades.

In 2015, a reconnaissance and communications ship arrived unannounced in Havana one day before the start of talks between US and Cuban officials on reopening diplomatic relations.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Russia’s stops in Cuba are “routine naval visits.”