Special to WorldTribune.com

MOSCOW — Russia, in yet another reversal of its military assistance
to Syria, said operations at the naval base of Tartous were not hampered by
the war against President Bashar Assad.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Russian Navy would not
evacuate its only foreign facility, located in the Syrian port of Tartous.

Lavrov said Russian Navy personnel would remain in Tartous despite Sunni rebel attacks in the surrounding province.

“There are no plans to evacuate this facility, as well as its staff,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov’s remarks on June 28 came days after his deputy claimed that Russia no longer deployed military personnel in Syria. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Tartous, which until 2012 contained 600 Russian personnel, was not a naval base.

“In Tartous, we never had a base in the first place,” Bogdanov told the Saudi-owned Al Hayat daily. “It is a technical facility for maintaining
ships sailing in the Mediterranean. Today, the Russian Defense Ministry does
not have a single person in Syria.”

Russia has been the leading supplier to Syria’s military. Over the last
year, Moscow exported air defense systems and a coastal defense system
to the regime of President Bashar Assad.

On June 27, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tartous was maintaining and
supplying the Russian Navy task force in the Mediterranean Sea. The ministry
said all of the personnel were civilians.

For his part, Lavrov said the Russian Navy has not reduced operations at
Tartous. He dismissed reports in the Russian media that the Sunni revolt
would lead to a withdrawal of Russian personnel from Tartous or other
locations in Syria.

“This is merely speculation and provocation,” Lavrov said.

  Bashar Assad, Mikhail Bogdanov, port of Tartous, Russian foreign minister contradicts his deputy: Moscow not evacuating Syrian naval base, Sergei Lavrov, will continue ops at naval base in Syria