Since the discussion of this issue began, US Defense Secretary Gates has been saying that the United States is considering alternative options for deploying a military base, and the US continues studying them, Hoagland said at a news conference in Astana on Wednesday.

But the prospect of deploying a military base in Uzbekistan is not among the issues being considered, he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported that Washington and Tashkent were in talks on opening a US military base in Uzbekistan as an alternative to the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan. "If finally Bishkek rejects American military presence, the US aircraft could move to the international airport Navoi in Uzbekistan," the newspaper wrote, citing Jeffrey Mankoff, a member of the American Council on Foreign Relations and associate director of International Security Studies at Yale University.

Mankoff was quoted as saying that the US asked Uzbekistan for permission to deploy a military base in its territory.

Kyrgyzstan made the decision to close the coalition forces’ Manas air base on 20 February. The last US serviceman is to leave Kyrgyzstan within 180 days, by 18 August.