Barnard1425 said:
Because Ukraine is making noises about throwing them out. The Black Sea fleet has technically been stationed in a foreign country since the end of the Cold War. There's an agreement that grants them the right to use Sevastopol until 2017, but after that nothing is guaranteed. There's a lot of hostility between Yuschenko and Putin right now, starting with the fomer being poisoned during the elections and continuing through the Russian natural gas pricing issue. If things continue as such, there's a chance the fleet could be out on its ear in a decade. Ukraine has also expressed interest in joining NATO, and having the Russian military stationed within its borders could be a barrier to that.
So all things considered, it makes sense for Russia to do some window shopping for a new port facility. And as their policies in Lebanon and other regional hotspots come under fire, Syria could benefit from a strong military alliance with an aging superpower.
Yup, they are in a foreign country now but they have a port less than 50 miles away on the Russian Black Sea coast. Like I said before, it is a lot easier and it makes a lot more sense to build new ship facilities for the Black Sea Fleet in a Russian port than a foreign one. Ukraine was their good buddy up until the last two years, they owned it for a long time before the breakup of the Soviet Union, with a 3 or 4 year exception. Why take a risk and build a base, with all of the associated maintenance facilities, for one of their 4 fleets' in another foreign country that may or may not be a friend in a few years? And it is not even in their immediate sphere of influence. Reference back to what I said about limited funding, they ain't got the dough to build a Navy to rival any respectable Navy anymore, much less the US Navy. Base a few ships, maybe. But move an entire fleet, I doubt it (though they could always move its HQ with an Admiral, it would be in name with a small handful of ships though, though they would have to rename it....).
I think you are reading too much into a single foreign article of unknown reliability. I do know a little more about the subject than you, and I will leave it at that. As for A4's and his interest of the Russians, it's a good perspective. But they are a shadow of what they were just 15 years ago and no amount of money is going to get them even halfway to where they were. Corruption is king in Russia nowadays, who cares about a military?
