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Russian military contingent in Central Asia to be optimised — defense minister

The presence of the Russian Armed Forces’ units in the Central Asian republics is of great importance for the strengthening of stability in the region

MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. The composition and deployment sites of Russia’s military bases in the Central Asian region for the period until 2020 are under discussion at a meeting of the Defense Ministry collegium on Friday.

"The presence of the Russian Armed Forces’ units in the Central Asian republics is of great importance for the strengthening of stability in the region and helps combat drug trafficking, arms smuggling and terrorism," Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at the ministry collegium meeting.

According to him, to this end, concrete proposals to optimise the military contingent in the Central Asian region, its prospective composition, deployment sites and the manning order have been worked out.

This issue, the minister said, is regarded as part of the implementation of the plans of activity until 2020 in the Central and Eastern Military Districts. In particular, the collegium considers the fulfilment by Russia of its obligations under the agreement on the status and order of deployment of its 201st military base in Tajikistan.