Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to provide Bishkek with archive Soviet-era maps to help resolve the ongoing dispute between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan over segments of their border.
Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Marat Imankulov said on October 17 that Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov asked Putin to help with the demarcation and delimitation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border when they met last week along with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on the sidelines of a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Kazakhstan.
"I think the problem will be solved, as archive documents and maps can be retrieved in Moscow," Imankulov said.
Putin said earlier that there was more "true" information about borders between the former Soviet republics available in the archives than in those republics themselves.
Japarov, Putin, and Rahmon held talks on October 13 in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
Kyrgyz presidential spokesman Erbol Sultanbaev said at the time that the talks were initiated by Putin, who said he "was ready to assist in resolving border disputes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan."
Last month, Kyrgyz and Tajik authorities accused each other of aggression after the two sides used heavy artillery and mortars in the latest clashes near a disputed part of border.
Kyrgyz officials said 63 of its citizens died in the clashes, and more than 200 were injured.
Tajikistan has put its death toll at 41, but correspondents of RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported a higher number after talking to relatives and friends of the people killed during the clashes. They concluded that 81 people, about half of whom were civilians, lost their lives.
Many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.
The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan meet.
Almost half of the 970-kilometer Kyrgyz-Tajik border has yet to be demarcated, leading to repeated tensions since the two countries gained independence more than three decades ago.
