Greece is an intriguing possibility. Russia would have a whole system of islands, capes and peninsulas for their warm water ports, they would be sticking it to Turkey And arguably also the US, and be smack dab in the middle of the Med. Greek and Russian religious, cultural and historical ties are also fairly deep. Then there’s that matter of Turkey occupying part of Cyprus. Cyprus is independent of Greece, but they share a language and are right next door to each other.
Agreed.
The Cypriot Air Base they rented to Israel is named after the former Greek Prime Minister, Papandreou. The Cypriots are much closer to Greece.
Rumor has that the Russians have almost concluded a deal with Cyprus on a sub base. The Russians know their days in Tartous are numbered.