Russia’s defense ministry said Monday that the country was poised to transform its naval facility in the Syrian port city of Tartous into a permanent base.
“In Syria we will have a permanent naval base in Tartous,” Russian news agencies quoted deputy defense minister Nikolai Pankov as saying.
The defense ministry said last week it had deployed its S-300 air defense missile system to Tartous and warned Washington it would halt any attempted US strikes in Syria.
Moscow also sent three missile ships to reinforce its naval forces off the coast of the conflict-wracked nation.
Pankov did not provide a timeline for turning the Tartous naval facility — which dates back to the Soviet era — into a permanent base.
He said the main purpose of the S-300s was to protect the Tartous naval facility.
Russian lawmakers on Friday ratified a deal with Syria on its “indefinite” deployment of air forces to the country, a move seen as paving the way for its jets to stay long-term.
The deal, signed between Moscow and Damascus in August 2015, allowed Russia to establish its Hmeimim airbase to launch operations last year.
Source: AFP
