Russia is to open a second military base in Kyrgyzstan, extending Moscow’s reach in a strategic region where it is competing with the US for influence.

Kyrgyzstan said as much as a battalion of Russian troops and a training centre for Russian and Kyrgyz personnel would be housed at the base near the border with Uzbekistan. But Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, said that might change in a more detailed agreement to be hammered out by November 1.