U.S. not to establish new military bases in Central Asia

/AzerNews/

By Aynur Jafarova

The U.S. does not intend to establish new military bases in the Central Asian region after the withdrawal of coalition troops from Afghanistan, First Deputy Assistant of U.S. Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Hoagland said at a roundtable in Astana on October 27.

Hoagland recalled that the U.S. will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by late 2014.

"But as other foreign friends of Afghanistan, we have no intention to leave Afghanistan and will not do this in the near future," he said. "But this does not mean that we are looking for an opportunity to establish a base in the region."

The units of the U.S. marines and British servicemen officially ended all combat operations in Afghanistan on October 26.

Hoagland went on adding that the sanctions of the West imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis will not affect relations between the U.S. and other countries in particular the countries of the Central Asian region.

Hoagland said when the U.S. and other countries were drafting sanctions against Russia, they took a very careful approach and tried to make them point-directed to individuals and companies not to affect relations with other countries.

"When they were making decisions, they were aware that the sanctions can affect other countries in the region. And we were very careful to make sure that our sanctions will not affect negatively the region's countries, including Kazakhstan," Hoagland added.

He also noted the U.S. hopes the Russian government will abandon the actions taken in relation to Ukraine in the near future so that the sanctions will be lifted.

Commenting on Kazakh Energy Ministry's recent statement about studying optional routes for oil exports, Hoagland went on saying that the U.S. appreciates Kazakhstan's multi-vector foreign and economic policy.

"The stance of the U.S. is the same for all countries, producing oil and gas, adding that the US wants to have a predictable energy market," he noted.

Hoagland said he can't predict what kind of projects will be proposed in the future, but the U.S. will be definitely ready to work with Kazakhstan, which is considered as a reliable partner.

He also expressed the U.S.'s satisfaction with Kazakhstan's significant role in the global energy market.