Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 16 / Trend /
Moscow will hold talks about its military bases in Kyrgyzstan when a new government is elected there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a joint press conference with his Canadian counterpart in Moscow, Russia-24 television reported.
"Let's wait until elections are held in Kyrgyzstan, and we will address the presence of Russian military facilities in the country with the elected government," Lavrov said.
The question of whether Russia's military presence in Kyrgyzstan should be streamlined has been discussed with the Kyrgyz government, Lavrov said.
"We are ready for such negotiations, and so is Kyrgyzstan," he said.
A working group of Russian experts will visit Kyrgyzstan by Sept. 20 to discuss a draft agreement on the status of servicemen from Russia, the length of their stay in Kyrgyzstan and the question of rent for military installations, Kyrgyz Defense Minister Abibilla Kudaibergenov said at a press conference held by the Kabar news agency on Thursday.
Kudaibergenov said Kyrgyzstan has proposed that four Russian facilities in the country be combined under a unified command. Russia pays annual rent worth $4.5 million to Kyrgyzstan for its military bases, totaling 866 hectares. Kudaibergenov noted that Kyrgyzstan plans to raise the rent by three or four times since the original agreement was signed in the mid-1990s, IA CA-News reported.