MOSCOW. April 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian government approved a Russian-Kyrgyz agreement on the status and conditions of the presence of the Russian airbase in Kyrgyzstan's Kant and will give it to the president to be submitted to the State Duma for ratification.
Russia and Kyrgyzstan signed the agreement in September 2003.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Razov said at a government session on Thursday that Kyrgyzstan ratified the document in August 2004.
"The agreement meets Russia's key interests in the region" and provides for Russia's long-term presence in Kyrgyzstan and in the region on the whole, he said.
The document will help oppose terrorist threats, Razov said. "This base could also be used for joint air defense operations," he said.