In the 1860s, the former Kara-Kyrgyz Khanate was conquered by Russia, and in 1916, the Kyrgyz people rebelled against Russian rule during the wider Central Asian revolt of 1916.

He announced Kyrgyzstan's entry into the Customs Union, secured the withdrawal of the American 376th Air Expeditionary Wing from the country in 2014, and had spoken of the need for closer economic relations with the Russian Federation.

[3] For its part, Russia sees aid to Kyrgyzstan as a successful precedent in its new policy of gaining influence in its "near abroad," the states that once were Soviet republics.

Akayev, on the other hand, sought a way to stem the loss of his Russian population, which already had caused an enormous deficit of doctors, teachers, and engineers.

After lobbying hard for inclusion, Kyrgyzstan became a member of the customs union that Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan established in February 1996.

[2] In early 1995, Askar Akayev, the then President of Kyrgyzstan, attempted to sell Russian companies controlling shares in the republic's twenty-nine largest industrial plants, an offer that Russia refused.

[9] In March 2019, the Russian government announced that it would give a $30 million (USD) in economic and military aid to Kyrgyzstan.