(CNN) Russia plans to send long-range bombers to the Gulf of Mexico in what appears to be Moscow's latest provocative maneuver in its increasingly frosty relations with the West. Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Wednesday that "we have to maintain (Russia's) military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico" -- including sending bombers "as part of the drills." It's an argument U.S. officials don't seem to be buying. "We do not see the security environment as warranting such provocative and potentially destabilizing activity," a senior Obama administration official said Thursday.
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U.S. official: Plan is "provocative and potentially destabilizing"
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Russia: Patrols could include the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico
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That would bring the flights close to U.S. territorial waters
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Russia sending a message over U.S. actions in Ukraine, analyst says
The ceasefire in volatile eastern Ukraine is crumbling, with U.S. and allied officials accusing Moscow of sending fresh troops, tanks and other military equipment across the border in recent days -- something that @placeholder officials have strongly denied.