July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Russia may send military aircraft back to bases in Cuba in response to U.S. plans to deploy elements of a missile defense system in Europe, Izvestiya reported, citing an unidentified ``highly placed source.''

Both the supersonic Tu-160, a nuclear bomber known as ``White Swan,'' and the strategic bomber Tu-95, known to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the ``Bear,'' are capable of flying as far as Cuba, the paper said.

``There are such discussions, but they're only discussions,'' the paper cited a ``highly placed'' source on the staff of Russia's long-distance strategic aviation command as saying. ``I'm not going to say that there's nothing behind'' the talks.

Russian military-transport aircraft regularly fly to Cuba, the paper said, carrying out orders for private companies.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sebastian Alison in Moscow at Salison1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 21, 2008 02:13 EDT