Reports: Russian general says no plan yet for Syria base but keeps door open to possibility

MOSCOW – A Russian general says Moscow has no plan just yet to set up a military air base in Syria, but he has kept the door open to the possibility.

Asked Wednesday if Russia plans to create a base in Syria, Gen. Nikolai Bogdanovsky, a deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian military, said, according to Russian news agencies, that “there are no such plans as of today, but anything may happen.”

The statement comes amid signs of an ongoing Russian military buildup in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia, which Washington says signals Moscow’s intention to set up a forward air base there. As part of the effort, Russia has delivered about a half dozen battle tanks there, although no fighter jets or helicopters have arrived yet.