[UPI/Washington Times] Martin Sieff - Russia is stepping up its rhetoric about redeploying its Black Sea Fleet to the Mediterranean if Ukraine pushes ahead with plans to evict it from its home port base of Sevastopol in the Crimea. "New bases in the Mediterranean Sea could make up for the departure," Rear Adm. Andrei Baranov stated Monday. The most likely Mediterranean base for the Black Sea Fleet would be Tartus in Syria, which served as a maintenance port for the old Soviet navy during the Cold War. The RIA Novosti news agency said that "about 10 Russian warships and three floating piers" were already based at Tartus and Russian engineers and construction crews are at work enlarging the naval base. A new pier for the use of Russian warships was also being constructed at nearby Latakia. If Russia were to base significant naval forces in Syria, that could have the effect of deterring or limiting Israel's ability to strike at targets in Syria because it might then run the risk of Russian retaliation.
2008-09-18 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive