My profile:
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Russia, seeking to offset growing U.S. influence in Central Asia, has asked Kyrgyzstan to allow it to open another military base in the country, a senior Kyrgyz official said Thursday.
Russia and the United States both operate their own military bases in Kyrgyzstan, an arrangement security analysts see as a symbol of Moscow’s rivalry with Washington for control over the strategically important region bordering Afghanistan.
The senior Kyrgyz government official said Moscow had asked Kyrgyzstan to allow it to open another military base in southern Kyrgyzstan.
“Russia voiced this request itself,” the source said on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the issue. “Russia wants to restore its influence.”
The source made his remarks shortly after a Russian delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov visited Bishkek this week.
Speculation that Moscow might be seeking another base in Central Asia emerged after Kyrgyzstan agreed last month to allow the United States to continue using its Manas air base, reversing an earlier, Russia-backed decision to shut it.
The Kremlin confirmed that talks had taken place in Bishkek.
“I can confirm that Deputy Prime Minister Sechin and Defense Minister Serdyukov were there and held talks,” Kremlin spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said on the sidelines of a Group of Eight summit in Italy.
She refused to elaborate on the topics discussed. The Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry declined comment.
The Kyrgyz source said Russia wanted to use an abandoned Soviet-era military facility near the city of Osh in the densely populated Ferghana valley — a strategic location near China and Afghanistan — as a foundation for a new base.
“The issue is being discussed currently,” the source said, adding that the facility still had good military infrastructure.
The U.S.-operated Manas air base opened in Kyrgyzstan in 2001 to support military operations in Afghanistan. Like Russia’s Kant air base, it is located near the capital, Bishkek.
Russia Wants to Open 2nd Military Base in Kyrgyzstan
10 July 2009
Reuters
Discussion
Comments
The Moscow Times welcomes comments from our readers and encourages you to participate in creating a dialogue about modern-day politics, business and events in Russia. In order to post a comment, you must first be registered with our site, and all comments must adhere to our comments policy.
1. Comments must pertain to the topic of the corresponding article.
2. Comments must not contain vulgarity, ad hominem attacks, slander or anything resembling hate speech.
If you have posted a comment and it does not appear within 24 hours, please contact us.
1. Comments must pertain to the topic of the corresponding article.
2. Comments must not contain vulgarity, ad hominem attacks, slander or anything resembling hate speech.
If you have posted a comment and it does not appear within 24 hours, please contact us.
Most Read
-
Online Commerce Choked by Shipping Delays
Foreign-based Internet shopping sites are drawing increasing numbers of Russian consumers looking for deals, but as delays mount at the country's notoriously inefficient postal service, many are finding that securing delivery of their items is no simple task.
-
Editor, Kremlin Critic Decry YouTube Video
Russian Newsweek editor Mikhail Fishman and opposition politician Ilya Yashin cried foul Thursday after a video surfaced on YouTube that seemingly shows them giving bribes to traffic police officers.
-
Clinton, Putin to Hold First Meeting Friday
But the announcement was the only outwardly positive news of the day, as Putin said during a meeting on nuclear energy industry in Volgodonsk that Russia would launch Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor this summer.
-
Aeroflot, Sheremetyevo Reach Compromise
Aeroflot is ready to hand over its Terminal D for management to Sheremetyevo, which will be running the entire airport until officials are able to select an independent operator.
-
Bringing the Money Back to Russia
The medicine to cure bad loans needs to be taken quickly, but not so quickly as to kill the patient — the bank system.
-
Skolkovo Designated ‘Silicon Valley’ Location
The prestigious Moscow region town, which currently hosts a premier business school, will have five "presidential" priorities for modernization: energy, IT, telecommunications, biotechnology and nuclear technology, Medvedev said.
-
Putin Says Share of Nuclear Market to Rise
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held a meeting on the nuclear power industry after overseeing the opening of a new reactor in Volgodonsk, Rostov region, that will begin operating at its full capacity of 1,000 megawatts in October.
-
Rosneft Faces Export Deadlock as Yukos Attacks
Rosneft faces an export deadlock after bankrupt rival Yukos won U.S. and British court injunctions making cash payments to Rosneft in the West very complex, market sources said.
-
Police Roll Out Plan To Improve Reputation
The Interior Ministry started a nationwide public relations campaign this week to burnish its tarnished image, posting billboards showing respectable cops and Internet ads promoting reports acts of police heroism.
-
Former Beatle Set to Play Tribute Festival
The Pete Best Band, fronted by the former Beatles drummer, will headline a Beatles tribute festival at club B1 on Sunday.
-
5 Reasons Why Russia Isn’t China
Many believe that Moscow should have copied China’s reforms. But what made China’s reforms a success was inapplicable to Russia.
-
Online Commerce Choked by Shipping Delays
Foreign-based Internet shopping sites are drawing increasing numbers of Russian consumers looking for deals, but as delays mount at the country's notoriously inefficient postal service, many are finding that securing delivery of their items is no simple task.
-
Russian Corruption 'May Force Western Firms to Quit'
Extortion by corrupt officials in Russia has gotten so bad that some Western multinationals are considering pulling out altogether, the head of a U.S. anti-bribery group said in an interview.
-
Sochi Olympic Workers Unpaid for Months
Some construction workers complain that they are going hungry after pawning their documents and valuables to get food at grocery stores, while sympathetic locals have organized a soup kitchen.
-
Moscow Finishes 2nd as City of Billionaires
Forbes has released its global billionaires list, which has steel magnate Vladimir Lisin ranked as the world's 32nd richest person with $15.8 billion.
-
Russia Today Courts Viewers With Controversy
In a rare interview, the editor of Russia Today explains that the growing channel thrives on controversy as its provides an alternative to mainstream media, and polishing Moscow's reputation is not one of its tasks.
-
Mercedes May Help Solve LUKoil Crash
The "black box" from a LUKoil executive's Mercedes involved in a fatal crash last month will be sent to Germany for analysis, a source close to the carmaker's Russian office said.
-
Putin Sells New Delhi ‘Plane-Proof’ Reactors
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won support for Rosatom to build a dozen ultrasafe nuclear reactors in India, part of more than $10 billion in deals in energy, arms, telecoms and other cooperation signed during his visit Friday.
-
Medvedev Warns Ministers to Obey Orders
President Dmitry Medvedev warned federal and regional officials on Tuesday that they could find themselves out on the street for not fulfilling his orders in a timely manner, in his latest initiative to raise his profile as the country's top politician.
-
Aeroflot Passengers Stranded in New York
Aeroflot passengers complained Sunday that they had to sleep on the floor at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport after bad weather delayed their flight by more than 24 hours.
-
Hacker Arrested in Billboard Porn Stunt
In mid-January, the Garden Ring Road was choked with traffic as stunned motorists slowed down to gawp at a pornographic film playing on a 9-by-6 meter roadside video billboard. A hacker in Novorossiisk has been linked to the stunt.
-
5 Reasons Why Russia Isn’t China
Many believe that Moscow should have copied China’s reforms. But what made China’s reforms a success was inapplicable to Russia.
-
Car Crash Thrusts LUKoil Into PR Nightmare
Bloggers are seething over what they interpret as insensitive comments made by the company after one of its vice presidents, Anatoly Barkov, was involved in a car crash that killed two people. Some have called for a boycott of LUKoil gas stations and a popular rapper has written a song declaring that Barkov will go to hell.
-
Adopted Boy's Death in U.S. Stirs Russian Anger
The case promises to reignite Russian anger over U.S. adoptions, a delicate issue in U.S.-Russian relations in recent years, and could tangle efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama to "reset" ties that deteriorated under the previous administration.
-
Putin Says Pipeline to Revive Greek Economy
Greece's debt trouble may speed up construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, as Moscow and Athens vowed Tuesday to move forward on the project.
-
Finlandization of Georgia and Ukraine
Moscow has a right to protect its own security, but it does not have the right to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors.
-
Police Struggle With Bad Reputation
As public opinion polls show that police are among the country's least trusted institutions and incidents of police corruption are reported in the media almost daily, those enlisted to protect and serve struggle with their own battles to make a living.
-
NATO Caught Between Russia and the World
Moscow is concerned that NATO will transform itself into a global force operating outside its traditional theater.
-
Mr. Nyet
The Kremlin is clearly not content with its diminished power status. But one way it can still project its power globally is to be the spoiler.
-
Stalin Billboards for Victory Day
Senior state official and rights activists alike have criticized a City Hall plan to display billboards in central Moscow highlighting dictator Josef Stalin's role in the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
