Russian officials announced Moscow has struck a deal with Havana to reopen a Soviet era intelligence facility in Cuba.

They were referring to the Lourdes spy base, south of the Cuban capital, which the Soviets used to collect intelligence information on the U.S. during the Cold War.

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BBC News, citing a Kommersant newspaper report, said the deal with Cuba came during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to the Communist-ruled Island last week.

The base opened in 1967, but Russia shut it down in 2001 because of the cost involved in maintaining the facility, which lies 250 kilometers from the U.S. coast.

A former Russian intelligence official emphasized the importance of the Lourdes base, saying "For Russia, which is fighting for its lawful rights and place in the international community, it would be no less valuable than for the USSR."

During the Cold War, 3,000 Soviet military and intelligence staff worked in the facility, intercepting U.S. radio and telephone communications.

According to the Guardian, the reopening can be seen as part of Russia's campaign to reclaim its status as a U.S. geopolitical rival.

However, some experts downplayed Russia's move as more symbolic than significant. Pave Felgenhauer, a defense analyst in Moscow, said the base reopening was a "PR move" by Russia to show the Americans the "middle finger" and that the growing influence of western powers in Ukraine also played a role.

Reacting to speculation that the crisis in Ukraine prompted the re-establishment of the base in Cuba, Russia officials said talks with Havana were already in their final stages even before the Ukraine crisis erupted in November.

The director of the Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, Ruslan Pukhov, linked the base reopening to Moscow's offer of greater military cooperation with other countries. He mentioned the prospect of sharing information from the base with U.S. rivals, such as China.

TagsRussia spy base reopening, Putin Cuba visit