Russian warships will arrive in Havana next week, say Cuban officials citing 'friendly relations'

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00:00Well, Cuba is trying to ease concerns about their arrival of Russian warships in Havana next week

00:06The ships will be there to carry out naval exercises along with Moscow's allies Cuba and Venezuela

00:12Cuban officials have said the Russian ships will not have any nuclear weapons on board and that they did not present a threat to the

00:19Region u.s. Officials have said they don't see the arrival of Russian ships to Cuba as threatening

00:24But that the u.s. Navy would be monitoring the exercises for more. Let's cross to our correspondent in Havana at Augustine and

00:32What are Cuban officials saying exactly about what to expect when these exercises take place next week?

00:40Well, as you said in your introduction they've been downplaying it

00:44discursively

00:45They've been saying you know that the submarine is not going to be armed with a nuclear missile be very odd if it were

00:52given how close Cuba is to the United States and and the backlash that that would create but

00:58more than

01:00beyond predictable

01:02Words from the Cuban foreign ministry. I think the backdrop of this is Cuba's huge economic crisis and it's

01:10Increasing inability to keep the lights on I'm speaking to you from Havana where we're privileged

01:15We've only had four hours of power cuts today

01:18In lots of the provinces that make up most of the country people are sometimes going up

01:22Going without 20 going without like 20 hours per day. And so what we're seeing is Cuba trying to court Russia

01:30Because they need the oil they need the petrol

01:33And within that context there's actually been quite a bit of fanfare around this within Cuba

01:38So I got a press release this morning from the Cuban ministry

01:42Sorry the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces and they announced that they're going to be

01:48The three warships and the one

01:50Submarine come into Havana Bay. There's going to be a 21-gun salute. So it's all quite showy

01:55They're going to be put on a bit going to be putting on a bit of razzle-dazzle

01:59And I think what the Cubans are trying to I think what Cuban politicians are trying to communicate to their

02:04Populace is that Cuba's not completely alone at this time that the regime has international allies

02:11And I think what they're trying to tell it and communicate to the United States

02:16implicitly is that

02:19They that if they get hit even harder with the sanctions the sanctions have been ratcheted up to unprecedented heights

02:25since the Trump administration the Biden administration's kept most of them in place that they'll get closer to Russia and

02:31That is not something that US policymakers particularly in the Democratic Party

02:35But many within the Republican Party want and so Cuba wants to ratchet up and tell her off its nuisance value

02:41But it's historically been very good at doing at a time when frankly

02:45Cuba's way down the headlines and way down most policymakers thoughts in the United States. They want to get back up there

02:53So that they can get some sanctions relief

02:56Of course, this comes in the context of strained relations to put it mildly between the US and Russia over Ukraine

03:01But how does the Cuban public view the presence of Russian military power on its shores?

03:10Mixed as you can imagine in an island of 10 or 11 million people

03:14I mean, it's worth saying that the way in which Russia's invasion of Ukraine is covered and talked about in many European nations

03:21It's very different. It's how it is here. First of all

03:24geographically

03:25Cuba's just a very long way away from

03:28From from that and people feel far away from it. Second of all, the economic crisis is so

03:36Stultifying so

03:39People are up to their eyeballs with different difficulties of putting food on the plate power cuts

03:44How am I going to be able to get to work that in a sense thinking about?

03:49International issues such as Russia Ukraine seems a little bit abstract

03:52And of course you do have a lot of nostalgic value for the former Soviet Union people remember that when the Russians

04:01were closer to

04:04Cuba for good or for ill people had a better quality of life. So particularly amongst the older generations

04:09There's a nostalgic value and fond memories. Lots of people travel there study there

04:15But overall it's not seen

04:17In the way in the dangerous lights that it is certainly by NATO countries

04:23I think a lot of people think practically

04:25You know if they're gonna bring us food if they're gonna give us cheap petrol if the Europeans don't want to buy it so much

04:31the better

04:32Okay, we'll have to leave it there our correspondent Havana at Augustine Ed. Thanks so much. We appreciate it

04:38Well here

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