• Why Russia evacuated its naval base in Syria - CSMonitor.com
    http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/0627/Why-Russia-evacuated-its-naval-base-in-Syria

    In a surprise move, Russia has pulled all its military and nondiplomatic civilian personnel out of Syria. That includes a complete evacuation of the naval supply station in the Mediterranean port of Tartus, which is often discussed as one of Russia’s key reasons for its long and stubborn support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

    (...)

    Other Russian analysts agree that, whatever the reasons for Russia’s personnel pullout, it probably doesn’t signal any change of the hard, pro-Assad position that Mr. Putin most recently reiterated at last week’s G8 summit in Northern Ireland.

    “Russia’s position hasn’t changed. In fact it’s getting tougher,” says Sergei Strokan, a foreign affairs columnist with the pro-business Moscow daily Kommersant.

    “The reasons behind this evacuation probably come down to security. That base’s importance has been greatly overrated in Western reporting. It just isn’t that big a deal. So, I guess the thinking is, why risk some major incident that the rebels might stage by attacking Russians at this sensitive moment when all the hopes are pinned on a new Geneva peace conference?”