Russia will “develop” its military installations in Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian country allied with Moscow, the Kremlin announced on Monday after a meeting in the Russian capital between the presidents of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Sadyr Japarov.
“Heads of state stress the importance of strengthening the armed forces of Kyrgyzstan and developing Russian military installations on its territory,” the Kremlin said in a joint statement.
Russia has a military base in Kyrgyzstan consisting of an airfield, a naval facility on Lake Issyk-Kul and several other sites.
Sadyr Japarov was received Monday by Vladimir Putin in Moscow on the eve of the great military parade on May 9 commemorating the victory over Nazi Germany, for which the Kyrgyz president will be one of the only foreign leaders to be present.
Russia and Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, are linked by a military alliance headed by Moscow, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
According to the joint statement released on Monday, the two countries also plan to “deepen military and technical cooperation” as well as economic and cultural relations in order “to achieve a new level of integration”.
This Russian military reinforcement will take place in a context of offensive in Ukraine and serious tensions with the West, which has adopted several waves of sanctions against Moscow.