MOSCOW, May 17 (UPI) -- A Russian defense official said there were no plans to close one of its military bases in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev said in February that neither Moscow nor Bishkek needed to keep military forces at the base in the town of Kant.
Russian Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, a Russian Defense Ministry official, said Kant was one of the four Russian bases in the country and there were no plans to shut it down.
"The air force main command has not planned any changes in the air component of our base in Kant," he was quoted by Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti as saying.
Atambayev in late 2011 called on the U.S. military to leave their air base in Manas by 2014, when international forces are expected to leave Afghanistan.
Manas Air Base is a key transit center for troops and supplies for the international military operation in Afghanistan. The Russian news service reported that Atambayev had denied allegations that U.S. forces would transfer from Manas to Kant.
