Kyrgyzstan agrees to host second Russian base – Kremlin
MOSCOW, July 29 (RIA Novosti) – The deployment of a Russian military
base in southern Kyrgyzstan has been coordinated with Kyrgyz
authorities, an aide to the Russian president said on Wednesday.
"Everything has been agreed, in principle," Sergei Prikhodko said on
the eve of an informal summit of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO), to be held in Kyrgyzstan on Friday.
The post-Soviet CSTO security bloc comprises Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Russia earlier offered to deploy a battalion-sized unit as part of the
CSTO rapid reaction force in the Batkenskaya region of Kyrgyzstan.
"In essence, this is not a Russian base. These are efforts in line
with CSTO plans to set up a joint rapid reaction force," Prikhodko
said.
Russia’s security strategy until 2020, recently approved by President
Dmitry Medvedev, envisions the CSTO as "a key mechanism to counter
regional military challenges and threats."
The leaders of the post-Soviet security bloc signed on June 14 an
agreement on creating a joint rapid reaction force, which will
comprise large military units from five countries – Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Russia already operates an airbase in the city of Kant, some 20
kilometers (12 miles) outside the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.
Some 250 Russian officers and 150 enlisted personnel from Russia’s 5th
Air Army are deployed at the base, as well as Su-25 Frogfoot strike
aircraft and Mi-8 transport helicopters.
Prikhodko said Moscow was not concerned about the presence of a
U.S. transit center in Kyrgyzstan to support an international
contingent which is fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed on July 7 a law allowing the
U.S. to continue using its Manas airbase for the transit of troops and
supplies to Afghanistan.
"If the operation of the center is carried out in line with its stated
mandate, we will have no formal cause for concern," the
ing that if the mandate is violated, Kyrgyzstan will have to provide
explanations to other CSTO members.