Kyrgyzstan wants Russia to supply it with weapons and military equipment in exchange for prolonging a lease on a Russian military base in the country by 49 years, Interfax reported Tuesday.
Kyrgyz Defense Minister Abibilla Kudaiberdiyev discussed the terms of the new deal with his Russian counterpart, Anatoly Serdyukov, the report said, citing the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry. Under the tentative deal, Russia will continue paying the same amount of rent as before and will provide annual equipment shipments to the Kyrgyz army, it said, without elaborating.
(MT)