WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday in a display of U.S. military power, raising questions about what the new influx of troops and weaponry could signal for the Trump administration's intentions in South America as it conducts military strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs.

The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships, announced by the Navy in a statement, marks a major moment in what the administration insists is a counterdrug operation but has been seen as an escalating pressure tactic against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Since early September, U.S. strikes have killed at least 80 people in 20 attacks on small boats accused of transporting drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.

The Ford rounds off the largest buildup of U.S. firepower in the region in generations. With its arrival, the “Operation Southern Spear" mission includes nearly a dozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.

The carrier strike group, which includes squadrons of fighter jets and guided-missile destroyers, transited the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, the Navy said.

Rear Adm. Paul Lanzilotta, who commands the strike group, said it will bolster an already large force of American warships to "protect our nation’s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.”

The Malmedy massacre was a German war crime committed by soldiers of the Waffen-SS on 17 December 1944 at the Baugnez crossroads near the city of Malmedy, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945). Soldiers of Kampfgruppe Peiper summarily killed eighty-four U.S. Army prisoners of war (POWs) who had surrendered after a brief battle.

The Malmedy massacre trial, from May to July 1946, established that the commanders in the field bore command responsibility for the Waffen-SS killing surrendered U.S. POWs; specifically Waffen-SS General Josef Dietrich (6th Panzer Army); SS-Sturmbannführer Werner Poetschke (1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler); and SS-Obersturmbannführer Joachim Peiper (Kampfgruppe Peiper) whose soldiers committed the actual war crime at Malmedy.

Regarding command responsibility for the actions of his officers and soldiers, Dietrich said he received from Hitler superior orders that no quarter was to be granted, no prisoners taken, and no pity shown towards Belgian civilians.

The war-crime cases of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS soldiers and officers were conducted at the Dachau trials held in the deactivated Dachau concentration camp, in occupied Germany, from 1945 to 1947. The Dachau Trials prosecuted and punished war criminals by imposing 43 death sentences (including Peiper and Dietrich), 22 sentences to life-long imprisonment, and eight sentences to short imprisonment. However, none of the death sentences were carried out, and Peiper and Dietrich were released in 1956 and 1955, respectively.

PARIS (AP) — Ukraine on Monday signed a letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafale warplanes, drones, air defense systems and other key equipment from France over the next 10 years, as part of efforts to strengthen the country's long-term security.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who signed the document with French President Emmanuel Macron, called it “a historic deal” at a joint news conference at the Elysée presidential palace. The letter is a preliminary commitment of Ukraine stating its interest in buying a series of French defense equipment.

“Firstly, Ukraine will be able to receive 100 Rafale fighter jets (and) very strong French radars — eight air-defense systems SAMP/T, each with six launching systems," Zelenskyy said. "This is a strategic agreement that will work for 10 years, starting next year."

Macron praised “a new step forward” in France-Ukraine relationship.

He said Monday’s agreement includes France’s latest-generation jet fighters with full armament, as well as accompanying training and production programs.