Russia offered to use the basics of Central Asia in the US for information on Afghanistan

MOSCOW (Reuters) – US President Vladimir Putin in June proposed to US counterpart Joe Biden that Russian Central Asian military bases gather information from Afghanistan, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Saturday as U.S. troops left the country.

Taliban fighters have made great strides in the wake of a 20-year war between US forces, fearing a security headache in Moscow, pushing refugees into the Central Asian garden and destabilizing the southern defensive wings.

In a rare offer during the frozen relations between Washington and Moscow, Putin proposed in talks with Geneva Biden on June 16 to coordinate in Afghanistan and make Russia’s base in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan “practical use,” Kommersant said, citing sources.

The newspaper said this could lead to an exchange of information obtained through drones, but has not received a specific response from the US. The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the Biden administration was negotiating with Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to work with U.S. forces and to temporarily take in thousands of Afghans with Taliban threats, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that the withdrawal of US-NATO alliances from Afghanistan had made the political and military situation more uncertain, which exacerbated the terrorist threat in the region.

At a conference with senior officials in Central Asia in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, Lavrov said that Russia wants to help launch peace talks between the parties to the war in Afghanistan.