ASTANA, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - Members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) could agree on the opening of a military base in Kyrgyzstan during an informal summit on August 1-2, a senior Kyrgyz diplomat said on Tuesday.
The post-Soviet CSTO security bloc comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
"The Russian proposal [on the base] is being discussed, and is likely to be considered at the
CSTO informal summit on August 1-2 at the Issyk-Kul resort in Kyrgyzstan," Kyrgyz ambassador to Kazakhstan, Dzhanysh Rustembekov, told a news conference in Astana.
A Russian government delegation reportedly visited Kyrgyzstan in early July, holding closed meetings with the republic's leadership. A source in the Kyrgyz government said the expansion of Russia's military presence had been discussed, in particular, the opening of a military base in the south of the country.
The diplomat said Kyrgyzstan had agreed in principle to the deployment of a Russian-led CSTO military base "to strengthen southern Kyrgyzstan."
"Why not agree [to the base deployment]? After all, Russia is our strategic partner," he said.
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.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approved on June 16 draft changes to an agreement with Kyrgyzstan on the lease of the Kant base, which would specify a 49-year lease with an automatic extension every 25 years.
