Uzbekistan not to sign agreement on CSTO collective rapid reaction forces: newspaper

Uzbek President Islam Karimov is not going to sign an agreement on collective rapid reaction forces as a part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and Tashkent has generally reduced cooperation with CSTO. In addition, Tashkent has already initiated talks with Washington about a possible return of  U.S. military base to Uzbekistan, Russia-based newspaper Kommersant reported with reference to its own sources.

Earlier last week Karimov received Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Central Command of the United States David Petreus. Uzbek media reported that the sides discussed “perspectives of Uzbekistan-U.S. relations and issues of mutual interest.” According to the sources, along with American military presence in Uzbekistan, Karimov also touched upon possibility of restoring the U.S. airbase at the Khanabad airport that Tashkent closed in 2005.

“After Russian plans to open a military base in Kyrgyzstan were made public, Uzbek authorities thought about ways to ensure balance of power in the region, especially given complicated relations with Bishkek,” a source familiar with the negotiations said.

Earlier this year media has reported on numerous occasions that Washington will initiate opening of the U.S. air base in Uzbekistan in search of alternative transit routes to Afghanistan because of closure of the American Manas airbase in Kyrgyzstan. But Pentagon denied it.

/Lenta.ru/