Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiyev discussed closer military and security ties between their two countries in Moscow on Monday.
"Our specialists are working on the possibility of closer military-technical co-operation in the areas of fighting terrorism, crime and drug trafficking," Putin said after a meeting at the Kremlin.
Putin said that Russia wanted to "develop" its airforce base in Kant, near the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek and also announced plans for joint anti-terrorism exercises later this year.
Bakiyev, making his first official visit to Moscow since taking power in a popular revolt in 2005, said his Central Asian ex-Soviet republic was "a solid friend and a faithful ally to Russia" and wanted "to develop its strategic co-operation."
"The deployment of the Russian air base in Kant contributes to the stability and the security not only of Kyrgyzstan, but the whole Central Asian region," Bakiyev said.
Russia's air base was opened a few months after the United States opened its own facility near Bishkek to support the US-led overthrow of Afghanistan's Taleban regime in 2001.
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