HAVANA (AP) — A fleet of Russian warships and aircraft on Wednesday entered the Caribbean in what some see as a projection of strength as tensions grow over Western support for Ukraine.

The U.S. military expects the exercises will involve a handful of Russian ships and support vessels, which may also stop in Venezuela.

Russia is a longtime ally of Venezuela and Cuba, and its warships and aircraft have periodically made forays into the Caribbean. But this mission comes less than two weeks after President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons to strike inside Russia to protect Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, prompting President Vladimir Putin to suggest his military could respond with “asymmetrical steps” elsewhere in the world.

The Biden administration has described Russia’s Caribbean excursion as a routine naval activity, downplaying characterizations of it as a provocation.