Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Alikbek Jekshenkulov told reporters on June 18 that a second round of talks on a new agreement for the U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan will begin soon, Interfax-AVN reported the next day. \"We expect to receive a reply from the U.S. State Department soon and will then gather for a second, final round, tentatively to be held in Bishkek as well,\" he said. Jekshenkulov said that the Kyrgyz-U.S. talks did not come up at a recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Shanghai. \"None of the SCO member countries raised the issue of the Kyrgyz-American talks on the antiterror coalition\'s further presence at Manas Airport during the recent summit,\" he said. Kyrgyzstan is seeking higher lease payments from the United States for the U.S. air base, although recent reports have indicated that the Kyrgyz government has moderated its initial demand for a hundredfold increase to $200 million a year in lease payments. (RFE/RL)