"We welcome the fact that Uzbekistan shows readiness to provide other countries, in addition to Germany, with an opportunity to use this base. As far as I understand, the United States has begun using the facility," Simmons told a news conference at Interfax on Wednesday.

NATO has used the Uzbek base as a transit point for troops and equipment headed to Afghanistan for some time, the NATO envoy said.

"During the period the base was used, Uzbekistan cooperated with a number of NATO members, in particular Germany; however, cooperation was suspended following the Andijan events," Simmons said.

"After a number of events, in particular the discussion of human rights issues with some EU members, the situation has improved and Uzbekistan has been showing readiness to cooperate," Simmons said.