MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) - President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev arrived in Moscow Monday on his first official foreign visit since he came to power last July.
He will meet with President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking officials during his two-day trip to the Russian capital.
Bakiyev's visit to Russia since being elected president after the "tulip revolution" that ousted former leader Askar Akayev is seen in Bishkek as highlighting Russia as foreign-policy priority.
Bakiyev's press-service said his visit was designed to "take bilateral relations to a higher level, while setting out specific issues for mutually advantageous cooperation, primarily in trade and economics."
The press-service said Bakiyev would discuss cooperation within regional economic and security organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO - Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), Eurasec (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO - Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia), and the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of former Soviet republics.
A source in the Kremlin administration said the presidents would also discuss stepping up strategic partnership and interaction on a wide range of areas, including in the military field. The leaders are also set to discuss joint energy and transportation projects involving Russian majors, he said.
The presidents are expected to sign a joint statement on cooperation, the source said, adding that Russia and Kyrgyzstan had signed more than 100 documents on the issue.
The visit comes against the backdrop of mounting tension in Kyrgyzstan, with opposition groups claiming the president has failed to meet his commitments on political reforms, and threatening him to start mass protests across the country on April 29.
Last week, the Central Asian republic's industry, trade and tourism minister Almazbek Atambayev, who is also the leader of Kyrgyzstan's Social-Democratic party, resigned in protest against the policies of the country's top officials.
Bakiyev's first year in office has been marred with a series of high-profile killings, including of several lawmakers, and battles between crime bosses for control of lucrative businesses. Bakiyev is also in the center of an ongoing dispute with the United States over the future of a U.S. airbase near the country's capital.
