MOSCOW, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- A Russian warship will visit a former U.S. naval base in Panama after a joint drill with the Venezuelan navy, a Russian Navy spokesman said Wednesday.

    "The Admiral Chabanenko destroyer will pay a visit to the Rodman Naval Station in Panama from Dec. 5 to 10," Capt. Igor Dygalo was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

    The 64-year-old naval base, once the hub for all U.S. naval activities in South America, was handed over to Panama in 1999 under the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977.

    The Admiral Chabanenko was part of the Russian task force that joined the VenRus-2008 joint exercises in southern Caribbean.

    Russian warships arrived in Venezuela at the end of November, following a two-month tour of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, which also brought them to Libya, Turkey and France.