 Alleged U.S. attempts to acquire bases were criticized by then Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who said such actions were unjustifiable, and Russian State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznev.An anonymous expert within the Kazakh Defense Ministry said that "of all the assistance [Kazakhstan] can offer towards military counter-terrorism operations—allowing use of our airfields, opening air corridors and sharing intelligence information—the last would be the least risky for Kazakhstan.Allowing the use of airfields means going into direct confrontation with the Taliban, and that is not a good scenario in our situation."