BISHKEK. July 12 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan and Russia are discussing a draft agreement concerning the joint Russian military base in the republic, the Kyrgyz presidential staff said.
"We are discussing a draft agreement on the status and conditions of the presence of the Russian joint military base in the Kyrgyz territory, during the consideration of which the size of the rental fee is not a priority," head of foreign policy in the presidential administration Sapar Isakov said in a statement obtained by Interfax on Thursday.
A day earlier there was a controversial reaction to a statement made by Kyrgyz Defense Minister Taalaybek Omuraliev who said that a rise in inflation will force the Kyrgyz authorities to increase the rental fee for defense facilities in the country, adding that the two countries are in talks over the matter, the statement said.
"The presence of the Russian defense facilities in Kyrgyzstan is governed by relevant bilateral agreements which set out clear rules and conditions for their presence in the republic," Isakov said.
"The Kyrgyz-Russian agreement on the status and conditions of the presence of the Russian air base, dated September 22, 2003, is valid until 2020, and the agreement on the use of the Russian defense facilities in Kyrgyzstan, dated July 5, 1993, has been automatically extended until 2017," the statement said.
"Russia is the main strategic partner of Kyrgyzstan, and our country is set to continue to fulfill all the obligations it assumed," the statement said.