Russian Military Bases Abroad

Continuation of large-scale construction at the Khmeimim airbase

NTV broadcast a video report on the continuation of large-scale construction at the Russian Hmeimim air base in Syria. The report said that "at the Khmeimim airbase in Syria, the Russian military began large-scale construction. Engineers are building new runways and hangars for aircraft and helicopters. To protect aircraft in the event of a possible attack, the structures are covered with special armored plates."

Russia received a logistics center on the Red Sea. As follows from the text of the agreement between the Russian Federation and Sudan, signed on December 1, 2020, the parties entered into an agreement for 25 years. The document was published on the portal of legal information.

https://en.topwar.ru/177919-rossijskij-flot-poluchit-punkt-materialno-tehnicheskogo-obespechenija-na-krasnom-more.html

Armenian opposition proposes to place a second Russian military base in the country

https://en.topwar.ru/178447-armjanskaja-oppozicija-predlagaet-razmestit-v-strane-vtoruju-rossijskuju-voennuju-bazu.html

Sudan prepares to ratify agreement on Russian Navy base — Lavrov.

The agreement has been announced to the public in early December, 2020.

MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/. Sudan is about to ratify the agreement with Russia on the establishment of a Russian Navy base on its territory, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after the talks with his Sudanese counterpart Mariam al-Mahdi Monday.

"We discussed this issue. We said that Russia has commenced the ratification process. The parliament is currently on vacation, so, once it is over, the State Duma will define the schedule for the reviewing of this document. This will be done by the new Duma membership. Mrs. Minister disclosed that Sudan is also preparing the ratification process. It will be carried out in accordance with procedures that exist in the Sudanese parliament," Lavrov said.

On July 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced the agreement with Sudan on the establishment of a Russian Navy base. This agreement has been announced to the public in early December, 2020.

The base is supposed to be used for repairs and the resupply of Russian military ships, as well as for crew rest. On June 1, Sudan announced its review of the agreement, "in order to take Sudanese interests and profit into account." On June 10, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the text of the agreement may change, but Moscow confirms its interest in cooperation with Sudan.

https://tass.com/politics/1313057

"Difficult dilemma": The Spanish authorities decide whether or not to let Ru ssian ships into the port of Ceuta for refueling, 17.07.2021.

The Spanish government was faced with a "difficult dilemma" of how to respond to a request from the Russian Navy. fleet on refueling Russian warships in the port of the autonomous city of Ceuta. This is reported by the Spanish edition of El Confidencial.

The newspaper, citing sources in the Spanish government, writes that Russia has requested refueling of naval ships in Ceuta, an autonomous city on the coast of Morocco, owned by Spain. Previously, the Russian fleet has repeatedly refueled and replenished food and water supplies in Ceuta.

The Spaniards seem to be not opposed to providing the Russian fleet with a refueling point, since this brings good money to the city's treasury, but on the other hand, Russia is an enemy of NATO and Moscow's relations with Brussels are at their lowest point.

According to the newspaper, Madrid is leaning in favor of friendship with Moscow, but there is still no final decision on this issue, and there are fierce disputes in the government. Opponents of the "opening of Ceuta to the Russians" put pressure on the fact that in 2022 Spain will host a summit of heads of state and government of NATO countries, and the entry into one of the ports of Russian ships could "displease" the alliance.

Between 2011 and 2016, naval ships entered Ceuta for refueling more than 50 times, followed by a long hiatus until 2018, after NATO "expressed concern" about the arrival of "Admiral Kuznetsov" in Ceuta with escort ships in 2016. In 2018, a detachment of ships of the Northern Fleet, led by the missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov, entered the city; in 2019, Ceuta was visited by the training ship of the Baltic Fleet, Perekop.

https://en.topwar.ru/185053-slozhnaja-dilemma-vlasti-ispanii-reshajut-vopros-dostupa-rossijskih-korablej-v-port-seuty-dlja-dozapravki.html

Putin, Biden Reportedly Discussed Use of Russian Bases to Monitor Situation in Afghanistan, by Ilya Tsukanov for Sputniknews. 17.07.2021.

The hurried US and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan has sparked concerns in Moscow over the security of its Central Asian allies amid the Taliban's continued advance. All of Afghanistan's neighbours, including Russia's Tajik partners, have beefed up border security in a bid to stop violence and instability from spilling over into their nations.

Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden discussed the possibility of exchanging information on the conflict in Afghanistan at their 16 June summit meeting in Geneva, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reports, citing sources said to be familiar with the situation.

The discussions are said to have included a proposal by Putin to use Russian bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, possibly to provide the US with information obtained through the use of drones. The US "hasn't given a clear answer for now", according to one source.

The business newspaper provided no further information about any other possible "coordination" between the two countries on Afghanistan.

Commenting on the story, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed to RBC that the situation in Afghanistan was on the agenda of the June summit, but did not comment on whether the discussions included talks about Russia's Central Asian bases.

US special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad similarly has not commented on the report.

Russia has a major military presence in Tajikistan, which is one of Afghanistan's northern neighbours. Moscow's Collective Security Treaty Organisation ally hosts the 201st Military Base in Dushanbe. The base houses at least 7,000 troops, several hundred tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery, at least one battalion of Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones, S-300 air defences, and over a dozen aircraft, including helicopters and ground attack jets.

Kyrgyzstan, which borders Tajikistan but does not have a common frontier with Afghanistan, hosts Russian personnel from the 14th Air and Air Defence Forces Army at the Kant Air Base, with about 500 Russian officers and airmen stationed there. The base's inventory includes Su-25 attack aircraft, Mi-8 helicopters, and its own contingent of Orlan-10 UAVs.

Sputnik has previously reported on US plans to station troops and equipment evacuated out of Afghanistan in a neighbouring country – possibly in one of the Central Asian republics. Uzbekistan, which is not a member of the CSTO, but maintains security ties with Moscow, has indicated that it would not allow US troops to be stationed in the country. Tajikistan hasn't hosted US troops since a brief stint in 2001. To the south of Afghanistan, traditional US ally Pakistan has also ruled out the deployment of American forces.

Last week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the US was still "briskly" and "energetically" searching for options for where to host troops to address potential threats coming out of Afghanistan. Failing that, the US would use its "sophisticated and robust over-the-horizon capabilities" to stage attacks "even from afar", the spokesman suggested.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow plans to cooperate with Beijing and Washington to resolve the Afghan conflict through talks, including with the Taliban. A Taliban delegation visited Moscow earlier this month, telling reporters that the group would not allow any provocations with their Central Asian neighbours, promising to clamp down on the Afghan heroin trade which has bloomed under the US occupation, and reiterating that Daesh (ISIS)* would not be allowed to operate in areas under their control. It remains to be seen whether the Islamist group, which now claims to control up to 85 percent of the country's territory, will live up to its promises.

https://sputniknews.com/world/202107171083405228-putin-biden-reportedly-discussed-use-of-russian-bases-to-monitor-situation-in-afghanistan/