Vietnam Will Not Stop Russia From Using Cam Rahn Bay Base - Think Tank Head

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — US request of Vietnam authorities to prohibit Russia from using the former naval base at Cam Rahn Bay as a support site for bomber flights is a provocation and will not be fulfilled by Vietnam, Director General of the Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade Igor Korotchenko said.

On Wednesday reports have emerged that the United States asked Vietnam to ban Russia from using Cam Ranh Bay base to refuel nuclear-capable bombers.

“The request by the US government is a clear rudeness. An insinuation that Russian aircraft that may refuel at Cam Rahn Bay airfield are by definition carrying nuclear warheads is a provocative and unfounded statement. Russian bombers on missions in the Asia-Pacific region pose no threat,” Korotchenko said Wednesday, adding that the Vietnamese authorities will not fulfil this request by Washington, as Russian-Vietnamese military and military-technical cooperation remain priority for Hanoi.

Korotchenko also noted that it is the United States unfolding anti-missile defense systems in the Asia-Pacific that may pose a real threat to the region’s security.

“Regional instability may be provoked… by America and its allies that are unfolding the Asian segment of missile defense system which only stirs up the external tension and activates the arms race,” the expert said.

Cam Ranh was the main US Air Force base during the Vietnam War. From 1979 and until 2002, the Soviet Union leased the base turning it into its largest naval base abroad. In 2004 a part of the base was reconstructed and opened as a civil airport.