Russia on Friday rejected US concerns about its use of a former US military base in Vietnam for the refueling of Russian bomber flights near US territory in the Pacific, dismissing recent US statements as “puzzling” and “strange.”
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the US had asked Vietnam to stop letting Russia use Vietnam’s Cam Ranh Bay for tanker aircraft that have refueled nuclear-capable bombers engaged in shows of strength over the Asia-Pacific region.
“It is strange to hear such statements from representatives of the state whose armed forces are permanently stationed in a number of Asia-Pacific countries and which continues to increase its level of military activity in the region,” Russia’s Ministry of Defense said.
It said US statements that the refueling of Russian bombers from Vietnam could lead to increased regional tensions was “puzzling.”
The ministry said Russian Air Force activities and cooperation with Vietnam were “carried out in strict accordance with international norms and bilateral agreements are not directed against anyone whatsoever and shall not be a threat to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.”
US Army General Vincent Brooks, commander of the US Army in the Pacific, last week told reporters that the aircraft had conducted “provocative” flights, including near the US Pacific Ocean territory of Guam, home to major US bases.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Jan. 4 that Russian Il-78 tanker aircraft had used Cam Ranh Bay last year, enabling the refueling of nuclear-capable TU-95 “Bear” strategic bombers, a statement also reported in Vietnam’s state-controlled media.
On Thursday, US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US did not want Russia to use Cam Ranh Bay.
“We have urged Vietnamese officials to ensure that Russia is not able to use its access to Cam Ranh Bay to conduct activities that could raise tensions in the region,” she told a regular news conference.
The Voice of America radio station quoted a spokeswoman for the US embassy in Hanoi as saying on Thursday that the US request was conveyed to Vietnamese officials last week and that she was unaware of a Vietnamese government response.
The Vietnamese government has not responded to reporters’ requests for comment.
On Friday, Russia’s Tass news agency quoted Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Konstantin Vnukov as saying that Vietnam and Russia were independent sovereign states that “do not need any instructions or recommendations by anyone, and we do not intend to listen to requirements.”
Russia and Vietnam are longtime allies, and Moscow was the main backer of Hanoi against the US in the Vietnam War that ended in 1975.
However, the current controversy comes amid steadily warming ties between Washington and Hanoi, especially in security, given shared concerns about China’s growing power and assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.
US officials have been careful not to criticize Vietnam itself over the Russian flights, stressing that Washington respected Hanoi’s right to enter agreements with other nations.
On Thursday, a senior US state department official told reporters that Washington did not see “any indication at all that the Vietnamese relationship with Russia is any way meant to reduce the relationship, or weaken, or impact the relationship with the United States.”
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