Washington Times: The Barack Obama Administration will enter into a bargain for the base in Kyrgyzstan

The US Presidential Administration Barack Obama may be included in Trading with Russia for the base in Kyrgyzstan, says the American newspaper Washington Times .

According to the newspaper, US representatives claim that they will try to explain to Kyrgyzstan that the preservation of the air base is more profitable than financial support proposed by Russia.

Washington Times cites the words of a senior American diplomat who asked not to name his name, that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "actively joined in this issue."

Currently, the United States pays Kyrgyzstan $ 150 million per year for access to an air base, which houses about a thousand Americans and which serves 15 thousand personnel moving to Afghanistan and from it.

Washington Times refers to unnamed American officials who believe that Bishkek’s decision may be dictated by the desire to raise the price for renting the base. “And we may have to look for a number of economic incentives - such as grants, loans, money and infrastructure,” said Pentagon's employee.

The representative of the Pentagon press service Lieutenant Colonel Mark Wright noted that "negotiations on maintaining operations on the basis of Manas are ongoing." “There is a lot of stake in this matter,” the Pentagon source told Washington Times. - We must take into account the strategic and economic counter interests of Russia. "

At the same time, Washington Times cites the words of the press attache of the Russian Embassy in the United States, which stated that "Moscow has nothing to do with the sovereign decision of Kyrgyzstan, and the issue of help (Kyrgyzstan from Russia) has been discussed for a very long time."

“There is no link between our financial assistance and the sovereign decision of the Kyrgyz government. We have repeatedly confirmed our readiness to cooperate with NATO in Afghanistan,” Evgeny Khorishko’s press attache emphasized.

The Pentagon believes that "Russia or any other country of the region does not make sense to undermine international efforts to establish stability in Central Asia." According to the representative of the US Ministry of Defense Brian Whitman, "in the past, they (Russia) were very consistent in their public statements regarding their support to establish stability in Afghanistan and throughout the region."

However, according to Washington Times, the question may extend beyond the region - the Russian leadership can strive to show its strength at the initial stage of its relationship with the new American president.

“This may be the first step in a longer game,” said Kory Velt, director of the Euro -Asian Strategic Project at Georgetown University. “The Russians are not in the interests of the Russians in Afghanistan. Maybe they want to offer NATO closer cooperation in exchange for certain guarantees in case of NATO expansion,” the American political scientist said.