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| Admiral Chabanenko Russian destroyer arriving at Havana's harbor |
Russia
is planning to expand its military muscles in some of Moscow’s soviet-era ally
countries including the Latin American country of Cuba, Asian country of Vietnam
and the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles.
According
to the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, Moscow is holding talks with the
some countries outside of the Russian territory to host its naval bases.
"It
is true, we are working on the deployment of Russian naval Bases outside
Russian territory," Vice Admiral Viktor Chirkov was quoted as saying.
On
Friday, Chirkov told reporters that Russians are discussing the possibility of
creating material and technical supply centers on the territory of Cuba,
Seychelles and Vietnam.
Russia
is already in possession of Tartus naval base in the Syrian coast of the
Mediterranean and had a Soviet-era navy foreign base in Cam Ranh in the south
of Vietnam.
In
2001, President Putin decided to shut Russia’s Vietnamese base which as a
result of an agreement between Vietnam and the Soviet Union in 1971, was in
possession of Moscow.
After
the closure of Cam Ranh base; Syria’s Tartus base, which was created in 1971
and still hosts Russia’s navy, became the country’s only military base outside
of the vast territories of the former USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics).
The
announcement of the decision comes ahead of a crucial meeting between Russian
President Vladimir Putin and his Vietnamese counterpart Truong Tan Sang in the
Russian capital city of Moscow to discuss the issue of reopening the bases.
According
to the Russian RIA Novosty news agency, Russia started to mull over the
possibility of opening new naval bases abroad, when its fleet took part in
anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.
According
to the agency, at that time Russia was thinking about opening a naval base in
the African state of Djibouti.
Moscow’s
decision to flex its military muscles in its Soviet-era ally countries comes at
a time when tensions between Russia and Western alliance are on the rise.
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