Russian nuclear warship in Venezuela manoeuvres.

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia said Monday it was dispatching a nuclear cruiser and other warships and planes to the Caribbean for joint exercises with Venezuela, the first such manoeuvres in the US vicinity since the Cold War.
The announcement came amid soaring tensions between Russia and the United States, including over the presence of US naval vessels sent close to Russian shores to deliver aid to Georgia, but Washington downplayed its significance.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Russian navy said the joint manoeuvres would take place in November under an agreement sealed when the leaders of the two countries met in Moscow in July.
Among the Russian ships to take part in the exercises would be the heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Peter the Great, a vessel with massive firepower whose cruise missiles can deliver nuclear or conventional warheads.
Foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said the Admiral Chabanenko, Russia's most modern anti-submarine destroyer, would also join the exercises, along with an unspecified number of anti-submarine naval aircraft.
He said the exercise had been planned for some time and was "not in any way connected to the current situation in the Caucasus," where Russian forces last month fought a brief war with US-ally Georgia.
"It is not aimed at any third country," he said.