The US Defense Department on Monday made light of Russia's possible use of air bases in Venezuela or Cuba for its strategic bombers.
"That would be quite a long way for those old planes to fly," Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary, told AFP.
Another defense official said Russia's efforts to promote military ties with Venezuela and Cuba were not cause for serious concern.
Top US military officer Admiral Mike Mullen "is not overly concerned about other nations trying to forge bilateral relations with other partners and friends," said a defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The comments came a day after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his country had offered Moscow unlimited use of an air base off its Caribbean coast.
Russian air force general Anatoly Zhikharev on Saturday said that Russia could seek the short-term use of bases in Cuba and Venezuela.
The bases could be used for logistics stops on long-distance bomber patrols, which Russia resumed in August 2007 after a 15-year hiatus.
Zhikharev said Cuba had several air bases equipped with the long runways needed by the heavy bombers and said the facilities there were "entirely acceptable" for use by the Russian aircraft during long-distance patrols.
Last year, Russia temporarily based a pair of Tu-160 bombers at an airbase in Venezuela in an orchestrated display of force seen as a message to Washington over its actions in Russia's region.
US plans to deploy anti-missile weaponry in former Warsaw Pact states and American support for Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO are seen by Moscow as provocative moves too close to Russia's borders.
Each of the Russian bombers is capable of carrying 12 cruise missiles that can be fitted with nuclear warheads.
The Russians use the Tu-160 bombers, which were introduced in the late 1980s before the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as 1950s-era turboprop Tu-65 bombers.
