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Russia's Putin in Kyrgyzstan to boost waning influence in Central Asia
December 5, 2002
AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged Thursday to strengthen ties with Kyrgyzstan, days after Russian fighter jets landed here, in an apparent bid to counter the growing US influence in Central Asia.

Putin, who arrived from India after an Asian tour that also included China, said he had held talks with Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev on boosting economic and military cooperation.

The two leaders signed an agreement to cooperate in the sphere of security.

Putin said that the talks had underlined "the resolution of the two countries to strengthen their alliance." The Russian president's visit came in the wake of the temporary deployment of three Su-27 fighter jets, two Su-25 ground-attack planes and two Il-76 cargo planes to the Kant airbase some 20 kilometers (13 miles) outside the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.

The aircraft are to form part of a rapid deployment force for the region under an agreement between members of the collective security treaty, which groups Russia and the ex-Soviet republics of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Putin told journalists at a press briefing that the stationing of an aviation group at one of Kyrgyzstan's air fields "means the rapid reaction force receives powerful aviation support."

The Russian president also stressed that security cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Russia "is not directed against a third country. It is directed exclusively at ensuring our security."

The comment is seen as a swipe at suggestions that Moscow is trying to restore lost influence in former Soviet Central Asia, which has become a rear base for US-led troops in the war on terrorism since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Kyrgyzstan has allowed some 2,000 US-led troops together with fighter jets to deploy at its Manas airport outside of Bishkek for operations to root out al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan.

Akayev, for his part, said he was happy that modern Russian jets would be flying over Kant.

"We consider that this is a concrete realization of the aims of the rapid reaction force and for Kyrgyzstan it will also represent a powerful security umbrella," the Kyrgyz leader said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and his Kyrgyz counterpart Esen Topoyev had earlier Thursday watched the planes perform maneuvers at the Soviet-era base.

Ivanov said that the aim of the maneuvers had been to test the facilities and see whether the planes could be stationed at Kant.

"If the presidents (of the collective security agreement) give the go ahead, in 2003 within the framework of the collective security agreement we could start the stationing here permanently (of the aviation deployment)," he said.

Russian media have reported that Moscow plans to mass up to 20 fighter jets and military transport planes at the airport near Bishkek.

It is expected to be one of the most significant deployments of Russian military might in Central Asia since the September 11 attacks, when several countries in the region emerged as key allies of the United States.

The Russian defense minister has said that the move will boost security in the region.

"Security in Central Asia has a direct influence on Russia's security. The presence of Russia, including militarily in this region, is in our interests," he said.

The Russian deployment comes at a time when external threats to security in the region are thought to have diminished following the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the stationing of US-led troops in Central Asia.

It has been seen by observers rather as a bid by Moscow to counter US influence in the strategic and energy-rich Central Asian region, a development which has raised hackles among members of Russia's political and military establishment.

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