Uzbek President Islam Karimov, however, would first discuss the issue with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. That's even though Uzbekistan has been seeking closer ties with the West and is trying to avoid relying too much on Russia, analysts said.

Another development in the region is that Russia has been considering establishing a naval base and army bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are recognized by Russia as independent states.

For Moscow, Afghanistan should not be ignored but it's absolutely not atop of its political agenda. What concerns the Kremlin is how to keep Russia's strategic space and geopolitical interests in central Asia from being threatened by the United States and other world powers.

The US-Russia relationship has been at its worst stage mainly because of the Bush administration's efforts to deploy a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, and to enlarge NATO, especially by trying to bring Ukraine and Georgia into the military bloc.

Considering the moves as severe threats to Russia's security, President Medvedev recently announced plans to deploy short-range Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, near the border with Poland.

The possible US-Russia missile showdown in Eastern Europe might remind some of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which occurred in the early 1960s and made the Cold War very close to a nuclear war.

Moreover, the Kremlin sent its naval fleet to Venezuela for a joint military exercise in November. The country led by Hugo Chavez has been viewed by Washington as a troublemaker in its backyard.

As tension with Moscow grew, the Obama administration, which needs Russia's cooperation on a variety of issues as Afghanistan and energy security, voiced its willingness to "push the reset button" in relations with Russia.

The Kremlin also wants to ease tension with the United States, partly out of economic concerns. Both the Obama administration and the Kremlin would benefit from the detente.

However, the US-Russia contention over the Manas base, the first test on the way to detente, has signaled that detente is just a phenomenon in the international system dominated by superpowers.

(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2009)