BISHKEK. March 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The latest events in Kyrgyzstan will by no means affect the role Russia's Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan will play in the Rubezh-2005 command post exercises which the Collective Security Treaty Organization plans to hold in Tajikistan in April, airbase commander Colonel Andrei Samotsvet told Interfax on Wednesday.
The maneuvers are expected to begin on Friday.
The situation in Kyrgyzstan has not influenced the operations of the Kant airbase, Samotsvet said. "Our tasks remain unchanged and will be performed in full," the commander said.
The command of the Russian airbase and the new Kyrgyz authorities are working in close cooperation, he said. "Today's contacts with the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry match the level of previous Kyrgyz-Russian military cooperation," he said.
The airbase's command took all the necessary precautionary measures on the night of March 25, Samotsvet said.
The commander, however, denied having received any orders to evacuate ousted Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev.
"As many as 300 soldiers are now serving at the airbase," Samotsvet said.