Moscow - Three Russian warships will visit Cuba on Friday, a navy spokesman said Monday, as Moscow boosts relations with the Cold War ally and long-time foe of the United States.

"This will be the first visit to Cuba by Russian warships since the Soviet days," Navy spokesman Captain Igor Dygalo was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

The Admiral Chabanenko missile destroyer and two support ships will put in for five days on the Communist island just 145 kilometres off the US coast until December 23.

The nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great and the Admiral Chabanenko from Russia's Northern Fleet took part in joint war games in the Caribbean last month in a long-distance exercise not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The show of force in US-patrolled waters coincided with President Dmitry Medvedev visit to Venezuela and Cuba on a four-country tour of South America aimed at reviving Soviet-era alliances in the region.

The move is seen as a retort to Washington's encroachment in post- Soviet states earlier under Moscow's sphere of influence with the use of warships in the Black Sea to deliver aid to Georgia after its war with Russia in August.

The navy also announced the end of a tour to Nicaragua, the only state to follow Russia's lead in recognizing Georgia's breakaway republics as independent after the war.

"The Russian Navy command believes the visits by Russian warships to Venezuela, Panama and Nicaragua mean long-term prospects for developing cooperation with these countries' naval forces in the interest of developing stability and trust on the world's seas," Dygalo said. (dpa)