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Kyrgyzstan's parliament unanimously approved a deal Thursday allowing the U.S. to continue using an air base crucial to military operations in Afghanistan, sharply shifting course months after ordering American forces out by August.

Lawmakers voted 75-0 to ratify the agreement, providing a much-needed boost to the U.S.-led coalition as it ramps up military operations against Taliban and al-Qaida militants and struggles to maintain other supply routes into Afghanistan. Five deputies abstained.

Approval was expected after Kyrgyz authorities announced a deal Tuesday to let the U.S. use the Manas air base as a transit center at more than triple the previous rent. Despite changes to the wording, the apparently will continue to allow the U.S. to transport weaponry, ammunition and troops as well as non-lethal military supplies.

"The main aim of the agreement between Kyrgyzstan and the U.S. is to fight terrorism and cooperate in providing assistance to Afghanistan's government in maintaining security," Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev said. "We will take all necessary measures to enable the operation in Afghanistan."

The decision effectively reverses an eviction order under which U.S. forces were to leave by Aug. 18. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev stunned Washington in February by announcing the base would be closed, citing what he called insufficient compensation and other concerns.

U.S. officials have said Russia was behind that decision. Bakiyev was sitting next to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev when he made the announcement, hours after Moscow pledged more than $2 billion in aid, loans and investment for the struggling ex-Soviet republic.

Russia has long warily eyed the U.S. military base deep in its traditional sphere of influence.

But Moscow now appears eager to cooperate with the U.S. on Afghanistan amid talks on a new Russian-American nuclear arms limitation pact and persistent disputes on other issues the Kremlin may see as more important, such as a proposed U.S. missile shield in Europe.

Those issues will be high on the agenda of Medvedev's first summit with President Barack Obama, in Moscow July 6-8.

"Moscow is interested in seeing the base remain in place," said Mars Sariyev, an independent Kyrgyz political analyst.

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