The United States has asked Vietnam to stop allowing Russian refueling planes to use a former U.S. base to serve Russian strategic bombers flying over the Pacific.
Reuters news agency reported on March 11 that the U.S. State Department said Russian bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons were being refueled by tanker planes using the Cam Ranh Bay airfield.
U.S. General Vincent Brooks described some of those flights as "provocative," explaining the Russian bombers were flying near the U.S. air base at Guam.
Brooks said Russian bombers that recently circled Guam were refueled by Russian tankers flying from Cam Ranh Bay.
Brooks did not say when these incidents occurred.
The U.S. Air Force said in May that Russia's intervention in Ukraine was accompanied by a significant increase in Russian air activity in the Asia-Pacific region.