Admiral Vladimir Masorin, the commander of the Russian navy, on Friday called for Russia to establish a permanent naval presence in the Mediterranean to protect its strategic interests in the area. Speaking at the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, where Russia houses its Black Sea fleet, Admiral Masorin said: "The Mediterranean is an important theatre of operations . . . We must restore a permanent presence in the region", according to RIA-Novosti, the Russian news agency.But Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based military expert, said Admiral Masorin's remarks were "wishful thinking" and reflected Russia's desire to restore Soviet military might. "What on earth would we need this for now? It would be expensive and would stretch the resources of our run-down navy to the limit. Our surface fleet looks pretty large on paper. But it is questionable how many vessels can actually sail," he said.
| Questionable? Not really ... |
Mr Putin appointed Admiral Masorin in 2005, with instructions to revive the navy, badly neglected since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Last month Admiral Masorin announced plans to build a new base for nuclear submarines on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian far east. But Mr Felgenhauer said Russia, which this week announced a three-year delay in construction of a $1.5bn (€1.1bn, £740m) aircraft carrier for India, did not have the capacity to build ships or naval facilities rapidly.
During the cold war Russia maintained a permanent naval presence in the Mediterranean serviced out of the Syrian port of Tartus to shadow the US Sixth Fleet. Tartus still provides technical services to the Russian fleet, but no vessels are stationed there permanently.
The Russian navy already participates in the Nato Active Endeavour anti-terrorism operations in the Mediterranean.
Admiral Masorin said a naval presence was crucial for the protection of growing volumes of Russian oil and gas supplies delivered to ports in the region by new export pipelines.
| None of the pipelines run through the Med. |