- Sputnik International
Russia
The latest news and stories from Russia. Stay tuned for updates and breaking news on defense, politics, economy and more.

Russia, Kyrgyzstan sign military memorandum

© POOL / Go to the mediabankRussia, Kyrgyzstan sign military memorandum
Russia, Kyrgyzstan sign military memorandum - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed on Saturday a memorandum on Russian military presence in Kyrgyzstan.

CHOLPON-ATA, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed on Saturday a memorandum on Russian military presence in Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan already hosts a Russian airbase in Kant and four other Russian military facilities. The airbase in Kant, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the capital, Bishkek, was opened in 2003.

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.

In line with the memorandum, the republic will also host an additional Russian military contingent the size of up to a battalion and a training center for both countries' servicemen.

The memorandum noted "the expediency of working out and signing by November 1, 2009 of a Russian-Kyrgyz agreement on the status and terms of stay of a united Russian military base on the territory of the Kyrgyz republic."

The agreement will be valid for 49 years and could be automatically extended for 25-year periods.

Medvedev arrived in Kyrgyzstan on Friday for an informal regional security treaty organization summit. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit takes place August 1-2 at Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul resort.

The post-Soviet CSTO security bloc comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Belarus is expected to join a CSTO agreement (signed on June 14) on the creation of a joint rapid reaction force.

Russia earlier offered to deploy a battalion-sized unit as part of the CSTO rapid reaction force in Kyrgyzstan's southern Batken region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists on Saturday that the training center, to be hosted by Kyrgyzstan, will be open for all CSTO members.

 

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала