Russian navy heads to Cuba as US sends more weapons to Ukraine, trains Taiwan

(Originally published June 12 in “What in the World“) A Russian naval group that includes a nuclear submarine armed with guided missiles is cruising south off Florida’s coast.

The Russian sub and ships are bound for the Caribbean to hold naval exercises. The Russian warships will reportedly make port calls in Venezuela and in Cuba, where China is building a military facility.

Russia isn’t the only one conducting military exercises on its adversary’s doorstep. The navies of the U.S. and Taiwan conducted secret naval exercises in the western Pacific in April. Quoting two unnamed sources, Reuters said the exercises were unannounced to avoid objections from Beijing, instead being labeled “unplanned sea encounters,” like bumping into a paramour at a restaurant. Reuters said the encounter involved roughly six ships from both sides, including supply ships and their escorts.

U.S. President Joe Biden has also decided to ship one of only 14 U.S. Patriot anti-missile batteries to Ukraine from Poland, where it was being used to defend U.S. troops there. It’s unclear whether the Patriot system is part of a new, $225 million in weapons package for Kyiv.

The latest package comes only two weeks after approving $275 million in new military aid for Ukraine. Reported by the Associated Press quoting unnamed sources, it will include desperately needed 155mm Howitzer rounds, missiles for the Hawk air defense system, mortars and rockets for Ukraine’s U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or Himars, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank weapons, and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. The new aid is part of the U.S. President’s drawdown authority, under which he can donate weapons in the Pentagon’s existing stockpile to Ukraine at their depreciated value and the Pentagon can replace them with new weapons at their full price.

A consensus, meanwhile, appears to be emerging that the West needs a defense-related organization with sufficient political independence to maintain defense readiness against perceived threats from Russia and its allies. Advocates of such a response argue that the West’s domestic political squabbles are distracting it from the growing threat posed by Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, likening it to the rise of Nazi Germany and Japan in 1938.