This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/americas/7768743.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Russian ship enters Panama Canal | Russian ship enters Panama Canal |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| A Russian warship has entered the Panama Canal for the first time since World War II. | A Russian warship has entered the Panama Canal for the first time since World War II. |
| The Admiral Chabanenko had earlier completed manoeuvres with Venezuela's navy, coinciding with a Latin American tour by the Russian president. | The Admiral Chabanenko had earlier completed manoeuvres with Venezuela's navy, coinciding with a Latin American tour by the Russian president. |
| The 50-mile (80km) canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was shut to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. | The 50-mile (80km) canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was shut to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. |
| Correspondents say the Russian ship will send a symbolic message in what the US sees as its sphere of influence. | |
| Ties between the two superpowers have become strained because of Washington's plan for a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic - something Moscow is firmly opposed to. | |
| Panama said the passage of the ship had no political significance, as the canal is "open to all the world's ships". | Panama said the passage of the ship had no political significance, as the canal is "open to all the world's ships". |
| Exercises | |
| The warship entered the canal on Friday night and was expected to take eight hours to reach the Pacific. | The warship entered the canal on Friday night and was expected to take eight hours to reach the Pacific. |
| It will dock at Rodman, once the base for all US naval activities in South America. | It will dock at Rodman, once the base for all US naval activities in South America. |
| The canal journey, the naval exercises and President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the region have been seen as aimed at strengthening Russia's influence in the region. | |
| In the naval exercises, about 1,600 Russian and 700 Venezuelan sailors on four Russian ships and 12 Venezuelan vessels took part in the VenRus 2008 joint exercise. | |
| They had originally been scheduled to last three days, but both Venezuelan and Russian officials said the manoeuvres had been successfully completed in one day. |