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 Wednesday.
"Our request is for the proposed military base to be located closer to the border, where transit routes lie. In addition, a starting point is already in place for development," Raimkul Attakurov said at a news conference in Moscow, adding that a decision on a final site had not been made yet.
The envoy said other members of a post-Soviet regional security pact should be able to provide input on where the base is located.
Uzbekistan has spoken out against the base plans, claiming that it could lead to an increase in militarization and destabilize the region.
Uzbekistan said on Monday that "implementation of such projects" could "reinforce militarization processes" as well as "seriously destabilize the situation in the vast region."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed on Saturday a memorandum on Russia's military presence in Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan already hosts a Russian airbase in Kant and four other Russian military facilities. The airbase in Kant, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the capital, Bishkek, was opened in 2003.
Some 250 Russian officers and 150 enlisted personnel from Russia's 5th Air Army are deployed at the base, as well as Su-25 Frogfoot strike aircraft and Mi-8 transport helicopters.
In line with the memorandum, the republic will also host an additional Russian military contingent up to battalion size and a training center for both countries' service personnel.
Russia earlier offered to deploy a battalion-sized unit as part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) rapid reaction force in Kyrgyzstan's southern Batken region.
The post-Soviet CSTO security bloc comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
