Gen. Nikolai Makarov. Image: Ria Novosti
Via Ria Novosti:
The chief of the Russian General Staff has arrived in Cuba for a working visit at the invitation of the Cuban military leadership.Gen. Nikolai Makarov, who landed in Havana late on Monday, will meet with his Cuban counterpart Gen. Alvaro Lopez Miera and other top brass, and “visit a number of military installations,” Russian Ambassador in Cuba Mikhail Kamynin said.
Although the Cuban leadership has repeatedly said it has no intention of resuming military cooperation with Russia after the surprise closure of the Russian electronic listening post in Lourdes in 2001, bilateral military ties seem to have been improving following the visit of Russian Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin to Cuba in July last year.
…
Some Russian military sources have recently indicated that if a political decision is made Moscow could resume operations at the Lourdes facility and also use airbases in Cuba for refueling of strategic aircraft.