Local resident herds his sheep in front of Manas Air Base near Bishkek Photo: REUTERS

Russia Pushing For Control Of Fuel Supplies To Crucial US airbase -- The Telegraph

Russia is pushing to impose a direct fuel supply deal on the US's airbase in Kyrgyzstan that would allow it to force a rapid closure of the base once it is no longer necessary to support Nato operations in Afghanistan.

The Russian and American governments are discussing a bilateral government deal, under which Russian state-controlled oil companies Rosneft and Gazpromneft would supply kerosene directly to the Manas Transit Centre, a crucial logistics hub for the war in Afghanistan.

"Ultimately it's in the security interests of Russia for the US to be using this base for its operations in Afghanistan, but under a very, very strict mandate," said Ana Jelenkovic, Central Asia analyst at Eurasia Group.

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My Comment: Why is Russia pushing so hard for this contract? Should they be trusted with such a contract? A hundred and one questions .... and no good answers.