13/09/2008 Russia announced Friday it was renovating a Syrian port for use by the Russian fleet in what signals an effort for a better foothold in the Mediterranean amid the rift with the United States over Georgia.
 
Friday's announcement was the first tangible sign of any new cooperation. The Itar-Tass news agency said that a vessel from Russia's Black Sea fleet had begun restoring facilities at Syria's Mediterranean port of Tartus for use by the Russian military.
The two countries' naval chiefs also met in Moscow on Friday and discussed further strengthening mutual trust and mutual understanding between the two states' fleets, a Russian naval official, Igor Dygalo, told Itar-Tass.
 
The Tartus renovations could signal an intention to have a long-term Russian naval presence there. In late August, Russia's ambassador to Damascus, Igor Belyev, said that Russian ships already patrol the area, but a new development is that the Russian presence in the Mediterranean will become permanent.
 
The Russian navy's closest access to the Mediterranean is through the Black Sea, where they have strong naval presence. But that area has seen an increase in NATO naval activity after the Georgia conflict, prompting Russian complaints that NATO has exceeded ship numbers permitted there under international agreements.
 
The move comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia after last month's brief war in Georgia. The rift has raised concerns Moscow might start reaching out to U.S. rivals around the world to beef up military alliances. Russian bombers this month arrived in Venezuela for training exercises and the two countries are to hold joint exercises in the Caribbean in November.
 
It is much more advantageous to have such a facility than to return ships patrolling the Mediterranean to their home bases, former Black Sea Fleet commander Adm. Eduard Baltin said, according to the Russian Interfax-AVN service.
 
Assad made a visit to Moscow last month, and before the trip told the Russian business daily Kommersant that Syria was ready to cooperate with Russia in any way, including discussing deploying missile defense systems on Syrian territory.