You're reading: Report: Russia wants naval bases abroad

MOSCOW - Russia hopes to establish its first naval base abroad since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and is looking at Cuba, Vietnam and the Seychelles as possible locations, state-run RIA news agency quoted the navy chief as saying on Friday, July 27.

Russia has been increasing the reach of its navy in recent
years, sending warships further afield as part of an effort to
restore pride project power in a world dominated by the U.S.
military.

“It’s true that we are continuing work on providing the navy
with basing outside the Russian Federation,” RIA quoted Vice
Admiral Viktor Chirkov as saying in an interview.

The Soviet Union had a large naval base in Communist ally
Vietnam but post-Soviet Russia opted to vacate the Cam Ranh base
in 2002, during President Vladimir Putin’s first Kremlin term,
because rent payments were a burden on state coffers.

The fate of Russia‘s only naval facility outside the former
Soviet Union, a maintenance and supply facility in the Syrian
port of Tartous, is uncertain because of the conflict in Syria.

Chirkov said Russia was “working out the issue of creating
sites for material and technical support on the territory of
Cuba, the Seychelles and Vietnam,” RIA reported.

Chirkov’s wording suggested facilities in those countries
might be less extensive than full-scale naval bases. Navy
officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, who was in Russia and
was to meet Putin on Friday, was quoted as telling a Russian
radio station that Vietnam has “no intention of cooperating with
any country with the aim of military use of the port of Cam
Ranh”.

However, Sang was quoted as telling Voice of Russia radio
that a maintenance and service facility at the port would be
open to ships from all nations and that, in the interest of
furthering a “strategic partnership” with Moscow, Vietnam “will
provide Russia with advantages in Cam Ranh, including with aim
of developing military cooperation”.