MOSCOW, October 10 /TASS/. The United Russia party will back the decision to deploy a permanent Russian naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus, Sergey Zheleznyak, a member of the Russian State Duma Committee for Foreign Affairs, told journalists on Monday.
"The United Russia faction and parliament on the whole is going to vote for Russia’s decision to deploy a permanent naval base in Syrian Tartus without fail because the country’s security and national interests are at stake. Russian parliament is always unanimous on such issues," Zheleznyak stressed.
He believes that a permanent naval base in Syria will help fighting terrorism and counteracting international and regional threats. It will also contribute to strengthening the geopolitical balance of forces on the whole.
Earlier on Monday, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov said that Russia was planning to deploy a permanent naval base in the Syrian port city of Tartus. According to him, all the legal documents are ready and are waiting for approval by various agencies and departments. At present, a logistics support center for Russian warships is operating in Tartus and a Russian air group is deployed at Hmeymim airfield in Syria’s Latakia province.