DAVID GREENE, HOST:
These East-West encounters Michele was just reporting on may soon be a lot closer to home. Russia's defense minister says his country will send long-range bombers to the Gulf of Mexico and to the Caribbean.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
Even during the Cold War, the Soviet Union didn't send its planes to patrol what is essentially America's backyard. Soviet bombers did make regular patrols across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
GREENE: Now, a Pentagon spokesman did not seem all that alarmed by what the Russians are up to. He said every country including Russia has the right to operate in international airspace, so long as it is done safely. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.