Moscow/Washington - The Kremlin has agreed to allow the
transport of US supplies and weapons over Russian airspace on the way
to Afghanistan, according to Russian and US media reports Saturday.
An announcement of the breakthrough was set to coincide with US
President Barack Obama's visit to Moscow Monday and Tuesday.
'This concerns land transportation, but, also to a great degree,
air transport of all cargo,' said Sergey Prikhodko, the Kremlin's
foreign relations spokesman, in Russian media reports.
Until now, Russia has only allowed the US military to use rail
transport across its region on the way to the war in Afghanistan, to
transport nonlethal supplies.
It is not yet clear if the new standards would allow US troops to
travel through Russian airspace on their way to Afghanistan. The New
York Times reported that it would be possible, but Russian officials
were more circumspect.
Allowing US military transport across Russia would be seen by many
analysts as a major step in US efforts to thaw relations with Russia,
noted the Times.
The US military has launched a new offensive further into a
Taliban bastion in southern Afghanistan, marking the beginning of
Obama's new strategy there.
Since taking office, Obama has identified the conflict in
Afghanistan as the largest national security threat facing the United
States, and he has sent thousands of added troops to help carry out
the offensive.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story