Kyrgyzstan wants new Russian military base near Uzbek border

Kyrgyzstan wants Russia to locate a new military base closer to its border with Uzbekistan, in the southern Batken region, the Kyrgyz ambassador said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan wants Russia to locate a new military base closer to its border with Uzbekistan, in the southern Batken region, the Kyrgyz ambassador said on Tuesday.

"Our request is to locate the proposed military base closer to the border, where transit routes lie. Besides, some basis for development has already been already created," Raimkul Attakurov said at a news conference in Moscow.

He added that a decision on the final location of the base had not yet been taken.

Uzbekistan is against the location of the base in south Kyrgyzstan, claiming that it could lead to the destabilization of the situation in the region.