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RUSSIA DOES NOT NEED BASES ON CYPRUS - MILITARY EXPERT
Interfax, Russia
Feb 9 2015
MOSCOW. Feb 9
Russia does not need military bases on Cyprus, especially considering
the current economic climate, former chief of the international
agreements division of the Russian Defense Ministry's main
international cooperation department Lt. Gen. Yevgeny Buzhinsky said.
"Sure, we do not need them [the bases], especially given the
present-day economic conditions," Buzhinsky, PIR Center Board Chairman,
told Interfax-AVN on Monday.
He was commenting on a statement by Cypriot President Nikos
Anastasiadis who said Cyprus was prepared to consider the deployment
of Russian air and naval bases on the island.
In the opinion of Buzhinsky, "Cyprus must need something, it wants
money and is ready to do anything. It is especially amusing that they
are offering [Russia] to open its base near Akrotiri, the location
of a British military base."
Being a member of the European Union, Cyprus is part of the sphere of
influence of the Europeans and the Americans, primarily, the Brits,
he said.
"So, all this talk about Russian bases on Cyprus reminds me of Cyprus'
"procurement" of S-300 missile systems. It even paid the bill, but
the S-300 systems were finally deployed in Greece because no one would
let Cyprus to deploy Russian-made air defense systems," Buzhinsky said.
Speaking of Greek media reports regarding the Russian government's
request for leasing an air base on Cyprus, a military diplomat told
Interfax-AVN in Moscow earlier that the Russian army did not have an
operative need to deploy an airbase in the Mediterranean but it could
temporarily use the Cypriot territory, for instance, for possible
evacuation of Russian citizens from conflict-ridden Syria.
"The Russian army has no operative need to station an airbase on
Cyprus, because the Russian Defense Ministry does not posses a regional
group which will require support from such base," the source said.
"Most probably, it could be the question of temporary use, with the
consent of the Cypriot side, of some airfield for possible evacuation
of Russian citizens in the case of escalated tensions in Syria,"
he continued.
"The situation around that country [Syria] has changed, and Russia
has contributed to that by its efforts," the source said.
At present, Russian airbases are deployed outside the national
territory wherever Russia has army forces, i.e. in Kyrgyzstan,
Armenia and Tajikistan, he said.
Western media, which commented on the statement by Anastasiadis,
said that a formal agreement on military cooperation between Russia
and Cyprus might be signed on February 25, 2015.
From: A. Papazian
Interfax, Russia
Feb 9 2015
MOSCOW. Feb 9
Russia does not need military bases on Cyprus, especially considering
the current economic climate, former chief of the international
agreements division of the Russian Defense Ministry's main
international cooperation department Lt. Gen. Yevgeny Buzhinsky said.
"Sure, we do not need them [the bases], especially given the
present-day economic conditions," Buzhinsky, PIR Center Board Chairman,
told Interfax-AVN on Monday.
He was commenting on a statement by Cypriot President Nikos
Anastasiadis who said Cyprus was prepared to consider the deployment
of Russian air and naval bases on the island.
In the opinion of Buzhinsky, "Cyprus must need something, it wants
money and is ready to do anything. It is especially amusing that they
are offering [Russia] to open its base near Akrotiri, the location
of a British military base."
Being a member of the European Union, Cyprus is part of the sphere of
influence of the Europeans and the Americans, primarily, the Brits,
he said.
"So, all this talk about Russian bases on Cyprus reminds me of Cyprus'
"procurement" of S-300 missile systems. It even paid the bill, but
the S-300 systems were finally deployed in Greece because no one would
let Cyprus to deploy Russian-made air defense systems," Buzhinsky said.
Speaking of Greek media reports regarding the Russian government's
request for leasing an air base on Cyprus, a military diplomat told
Interfax-AVN in Moscow earlier that the Russian army did not have an
operative need to deploy an airbase in the Mediterranean but it could
temporarily use the Cypriot territory, for instance, for possible
evacuation of Russian citizens from conflict-ridden Syria.
"The Russian army has no operative need to station an airbase on
Cyprus, because the Russian Defense Ministry does not posses a regional
group which will require support from such base," the source said.
"Most probably, it could be the question of temporary use, with the
consent of the Cypriot side, of some airfield for possible evacuation
of Russian citizens in the case of escalated tensions in Syria,"
he continued.
"The situation around that country [Syria] has changed, and Russia
has contributed to that by its efforts," the source said.
At present, Russian airbases are deployed outside the national
territory wherever Russia has army forces, i.e. in Kyrgyzstan,
Armenia and Tajikistan, he said.
Western media, which commented on the statement by Anastasiadis,
said that a formal agreement on military cooperation between Russia
and Cyprus might be signed on February 25, 2015.
From: A. Papazian