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MOSCOW — Russia is working to re-establish its former military bases in Vietnam and Cuba, a senior official said on Friday, reflecting Moscow’s growing ambition to reassert itself on the world stage.
The official, Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai A. Pankov, spoke at the national Parliament shortly before lawmakers voted to ratify an agreement with Syria to make the Russian military presence there permanent.
Russia lowered its flags at the Cam Ranh Bay naval base in Vietnam and at the Lourdes signal intelligence station in Cuba in 2002, when it scaled back its military presence around the world for budgetary and other reasons.
“We are re-rethinking the decisions that were made earlier,” Mr. Pankov said, without giving any details.
The Russian government has complained over the years that the West never appreciated the good will Russia showed in closing the bases. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told reporters on Friday that circumstances had changed since 2002.
“The global situation is not static, it is in flux,” Mr. Peskov said, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. “You see that the last two years have made significant changes to international affairs and security. Therefore, it’s quite natural that all countries assess these changes in line with their national interests and take certain steps in the way they consider appropriate.”
Russia already has an agreement with Vietnam to allow Russian ships to enter Cam Ranh Bay under a simplified procedure, and the Russian Air Force has been using an airfield in Vietnam since 2014.
President Vladimir V. Putin has often said that because Russia has very few military bases abroad, it cannot be considered a belligerent country. Russia currently has full bases only in Syria, in former Soviet republics and in its own territory.
MOSCOW — Russia is working to re-establish its former military bases in Vietnam and Cuba, a senior official said on Friday, reflecting Moscow’s growing ambition to reassert itself on the world stage.
The official, Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai A. Pankov, spoke at the national Parliament shortly before lawmakers voted to ratify an agreement with Syria to make the Russian military presence there permanent.
Russia lowered its flags at the Cam Ranh Bay naval base in Vietnam and at the Lourdes signal intelligence station in Cuba in 2002, when it scaled back its military presence around the world for budgetary and other reasons.
“We are re-rethinking the decisions that were made earlier,” Mr. Pankov said, without giving any details.
The Russian government has complained over the years that the West never appreciated the good will Russia showed in closing the bases. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told reporters on Friday that circumstances had changed since 2002.
“The global situation is not static, it is in flux,” Mr. Peskov said, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. “You see that the last two years have made significant changes to international affairs and security. Therefore, it’s quite natural that all countries assess these changes in line with their national interests and take certain steps in the way they consider appropriate.”
Russia already has an agreement with Vietnam to allow Russian ships to enter Cam Ranh Bay under a simplified procedure, and the Russian Air Force has been using an airfield in Vietnam since 2014.
President Vladimir V. Putin has often said that because Russia has very few military bases abroad, it cannot be considered a belligerent country. Russia currently has full bases only in Syria, in former Soviet republics and in its own territory.