Russia Dominating Middle East and Mediterranean

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently submitted an agreement to the Russian State Duma, saying that Moscow will build a full-fledged naval base in Syria.

This base will be in Syria’s Mediterranean coastal city of Tartus and is expected to greatly strengthen the operational capabilities of Russia’s Mediterranean fleet and to boost Russia’s ability to project power in the Middle East.

The Russians have had a naval presence in Tartus since the Soviet era, but it has only been a small logistics hub with considerable limitations. The plan for the full-fledged base calls for the Tartus channel to be deepened and widened enough to accommodate even the largest ships in Russia’s fleets. The plan also includes building two new piers that can moor vessels with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons.

On December 15, the Trumpet spoke about this new development with Dr. Vasily Kashin, a senior research fellow at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow.