Russia not to restore naval base Cam Ranh in Vietnam.

MOSCOW, October 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia does not intend to restore
fully a naval base in Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam, a source in the Russian
presidential executive office told Itar-Tass on Friday on the eve of
President Dmitry Medvedev's official visit in Vietnam to begin on
Saturday, October 30.
"Russia has logistic supply stocks for its warships in many countries,
you know them for sure - from the Maldives on the one-time basis to
Syria," the official recalled. "Certainly, Vietnam is interested in the
utmost capitalization of what they and we have done," he went on to say.
However, "I do not think that we should raise the issue of restoring the
naval base," the source added.
"It is logical that at regular Russian naval exercises, particularly
recently in the buildup of our cooperation with partners in the European
Union, NATO in the anti-pirate struggle it is a topical issue," the
Kremlin source noted. "There is nothing extraordinary about it.
Infrastructure capabilities are needed so that our vessels could take
urgent food and fuel supplies," he said.
"The idea about the naval base belongs to Vietnam and envisages that
we should take advantage of good developments and experience that Vietnam
and Russia had earlier acquired in navigation security, food and fuel
supplies for the vessels," the source said. "It is most likely the
logistic capabilities for the navigation of Russian vessels," he
reiterated.
"This issue is not topical (at a forthcoming summit), we have no
rivals in this region as in the past times, but have an opportunity to
call at the ports on coordinated and standard terms that is quite good,"
the Kremlin source said with confidence.
The source noted that he "is unaware about military plans regarding
this base and believes that there is none of them." "The point at issue is
the reliable navigation of our vessels, including those performing various
functions of our cooperation with international organizations," he
underlined.
Comparing the use of the Cam Ranh base with the similar agreement
between Russia and Syria the Kremlin source said, "It is even better than
the Syrian variant. As for Syria we always take into account the reaction
of the neighboring countries, for instance, Israel." "Here it is a much
smoother and more transparent variant," he said with confidence.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin source recalled about "some difficulties with
the passage of vessels in the Strait of Malacca." "Therefore, for the
propaganda all regional countries are interested in our warships to sail
there," he underlined.
-0-baz/mil