BBC News Online: World: Europe

Russia shuts Cuban radar base

The base was always seen as a threat to the US

The Lourdes station, where around 1,500 Russians are based, was too expensive to maintain, he said.

The base, which houses radar and electronic equipment, has been a sore point in relations with the United States, which says it has been used as a centre for spying on America.

The US Congress voted last year to restrict financial aid to Russia unless it closed the base.

Mr Putin stressed the decision did not mean its relations with Cuba - a key Cold War ally - were being scaled down.

"It costs 200 million dollars a year in rent to Cuba. For that amount, we can buy and launch 20 military satellites into space," said the Russian chief of staff, General Anatoly Kvashnin.

A naval base at Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam is also being closed.

General Kvashnin said the closures would allow Russia "to resolve a lot of financial matters".

Cost-cutting

The BBC's Robert Parsons in Moscow says the closures have come as a surprise - and only last year Mr Putin told the staff during a visit that their mission played a very important role in government decision-making.

Officials quoted by the Associated Press news agency said the closure decisions had been taken at a "stormy" meeting of senior military leaders, chaired by Mr Putin.

"The president called on us to seek ways that could save resources, including those within (the military)," said General Kvashnin.

The Lourdes base, outside Havana, is land leased from Cuba in exchange for crude oil and other supplies.

Denying the US spy claims, Moscow has always made clear it sees the base as vital for checking whether the US has complied with disarmament treaties, and for monitoring missile launches.