Brasilia, July 17 (RHC) -– Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected rumors about an agreement with Cuba to reopen the former Soviet electronic intelligence center of Lourdes, which was closed 13 years ago.

During a news conference following the BRICS Summit in Brazil, Putin said that the issue of about reopening the center has not been dealt with. “Russia is capable of undertaking its tasks related to its defense capacity without reopening the center in Cuba,” Putin said.

The Lourdes center was closed in 2001, when Moscow cut the budgets for military intelligence and met a request by the United States. For decades, the intelligence center, which was set up in 1967, allowed the Soviet Union to monitor radio communications of U.S. military units.

Lourdes was the most advanced radio electronic and radio technical intelligence center located outside of the territory of the Soviet Union.