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Russia establishing permanent presence at its Syria bases: RIA cites minister
[AlAhram] Russia has started establishing a permanent military presence at naval and air bases in Syria, the defence minister said on Tuesday as parliament ratified a deal with Damascus to cement Russian presence in the country, the RIA news agency reported.The deal, signed on Jan. 18 will expand the Tartus naval facility, Russia's only naval foothold in the Mediterranean, and grant Russian warships access to Syrian waters and ports, Viktor Bondarev, head of the upper house security and defence committee, told RIA. RIA news agency separately quoted Sergei Shoigu as saying: "Last week the Commander-in-Chief (President Vladimir Putin  ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...) approved the structure and the bases in Tartus and in Hmeimim (air base). We have begun forming a permanent presence there." The Tartus naval facility, in use since the says of the Soviet Union, is too small to play host to larger warships. According to the RIA report, the agreement will allow Russia to keep 11 warships at Tartus, including nuclear vessels. The agreement will last for 49 years and could be prolonged further. The Hmeimim air base, from which Russia has launched numerous air strikes in support of  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... during his war with rebels, can now be used by Russia indefinitely, according to the deal. Posted by: trailing wife 2017-12-27 |
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