Canadian Patrol Vessel of the Navy arrived in Havana early Friday, just hours after the United States announced that a fast attack submarine had arrived at its Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. Both vessels arrived after Russian warships docked on the island earlier this week, reports "Reuters".
The build-up of Russian, Canadian and American ships in Cuba is reminiscent of old Cold War tensions and the current strained ties between Russia and Western nations over the war in Ukraine.
Both the US and Cuba, however, have said that the Russian warships do not pose a threat to the region. Russia has also characterized the arrival of its warships in allied Cuba as routine.
The frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" and the nuclear submarine "Kazan" arrived in Havana on Wednesday after conducting training on "high-precision missile weapons" in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Canadian patrol vessel "Margaret Brook" began maneuvers early Friday to enter the port of Havana, part of what the Canadian Joint Operations Command called a "port visit ... in recognition of the long-standing bilateral relationship between Canada and Cuba.".
Hours earlier, US Southern Command said the fast attack submarine Helena had arrived on a routine visit to Guantanamo Bay, a US naval base on the southeastern tip of the island about 850 km away. from Havana.
"The ship's location and transit were pre-planned," US Southern Command said in X.
A Canadian diplomat characterized the arrival of "Margaret Brooke" as "routine and part of the long-standing cooperation between our two countries", adding that it was "not related to the presence of the Russian ships".
Russia and Cuba were close allies during the former Soviet Union and tensions with Washington over communism in its "backyard" peaked with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Russian warships are expected to remain in Havana harbor until June 17.