Cyprus on Wednesday signed a deal with Russia allowing its navy ships to make regular port calls on the island.
The deal with European Union member Cyprus, which also hosts British military bases, comes amid Russia-West tensions over Ukraine, the worst since the Cold War times.
Well, they did it after all.
This isn't a Russian military base. It's just a place their ships can go to for resupply and repair. So way different.
But the distinction between bases and places has eluded me, I admit.
I imagine access to an airport will come soon.
This all makes sense from Russia's point of view. Now that they have a bigger presence in the Black Sea with the conquest of Crimea, they need an eastern Mediterranean Sea buffer for that asset.
That's the way it works. Get a buffer and pretty soon you get attached to that land and want a buffer for that, too.
Repeat until stopped.
