THE TENSION: Wire: Russia May Send Strategic Bombers to Cuba, Venezuela

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2009 -- Multiple news outlets reported this morning that Russia has expressed interest in using Cuban airfields during patrol missions of its strategic bombers.

A Russian Air Force chief said Saturday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered an island as a temporary base for strategic Russian bombers.

The newswire reports are credited to Interfax.

"The military is speaking about technical possibilities, that's all," Alexei Pavlov, a Kremlin official, told The Associated Press. "If there will be a development of the situation, then we can comment," he said.

Zhikharev said Chavez had offered "a whole island with an airdrome, which we can use as a temporary base for strategic bombers," the agency reported. "If there is a corresponding political decision, then the use of the island ... by the Russian Air Force is possible."

Interfax reported he said earlier that Cuba has air bases with four or five runways long enough for the huge bombers and could be used to host the long-range planes.