Kyrgyzstan is ready to consider expansion of the Russian Kant airbase, if such a proposal comes from Moscow or the CSTO. The Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Ruslan Kazakbaev told RIA Novosti.
«As for the Kant airbase, our firm position is to preserve it. There will be no revision of the previously signed agreements,» RIA Novosti quotes Ruslan Kazakbaev as saying.
In an interview with the media outlet, the Foreign Minister also said that Russia played a special role in the period after the elections, when a political crisis broke out in the republic. «It all could turn into mass disorder and bloodshed. And here, of course, first of all, the Russian Federation and our other partners made statements and provided support,» he said.
Ruslan Kazakbaev recalled that at the height of the protests, the Deputy Head of the Executive Office of the Resident of Russia Dmitry Kozak came to Bishkek, with whom the minister discussed, among other things, the possibility of financial support for the republican budget.
The joint Russian Kant airbase belongs to the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces and participates in ensuring the security of the airspace of the CSTO states. It is armed with Su-25 attack aircraft and Mi-8 helicopters.
