Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyzstan pressured by Russia to close US airbase

AFP reports Kyrgystan will order the closure of a US military airbase used to support operations in Afghanistan “in a matter of days”. It is understood the decision was made after pressure from Russia.

A senior Kyrgyz official said. “The presidential decree on the annulment of the agreement with the United States is already prepared. In a matter of days it will be published in the Kyrgyz media.”

The official said Russia had urged Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to announce the closure of the base in exchange for financial help to the cash-strapped Central Asian nation.

However, a senior U.S. military official said on Saturday the United States has no plans to close or change the status of its military base in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan.

Published by Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting
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