Imitation is a form of flattery

Putin admires America.  America played in Putin's backyard.  Now Putin copies the great America and comes playing in America's backyard.  Short-sighted actions like the ones taken in Ukraine will have never-ending consequences for the USA and all her allies who endorsed that stupidest of moves.  Irreversible harm has been done to the people of that region and as our world is based on domino effects, the harm done there will keep rippling  around the world.

From Reuters:
Russia has reached a provisional agreement with Cuba to reopen a big Soviet-era base on the Caribbean island from which it once spied in the United States, a Russian security source said on Wednesday.

The move comes as U.S.-Russian relations have reached a post-Cold War low in a dispute over Ukraine.

"A framework agreement has been agreed," the source told Reuters, confirming a report in the daily Kommersant newspaper that the reopening was approved in principle during a visit to Cuba last week by President Vladimir Putin.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki declined to comment, noting there was no formal announcement from Moscow. Other U.S. officials were skeptical, questioning whether Russia would go through with what would be an expensive initiative with possible limited returns.

When they closed the base, the Russians said it was a "goodwill gesture” toward Washington, although many U.S. officials at the time believed Moscow was really concerned about costs.

One officials who asked not to be named called Russian statements and news reports about the project "propaganda."

At the height of the Cold War, the base at Lourdes, just south of the capital Havana, had up to 3,000 personnel and was the biggest centre Moscow operated abroad for gathering intelligence from radio signals.

The base, 250 km (150 miles) from the U.S. coast, was also used to provide communications for Russian ships.

Government and Kremlin officials did not immediately comment. The base was closed in 2001. Discussions about its reopening began several years ago and intensified this year, Kommersant said, as relations with the United States deteriorated.

Since the Ukrain crisis worsened in February, the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia and Moscow has tried to bolster ties with other countries, including in Asia and Latin America, to ensure Russia is not isolated.

Kommersant gave no financial details about the agreement, but noted Russia agreed before Putin's visit to forgive 90 percent of Cuba's $32 billion Soviet-era debt.........