BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO is seeking to boost cooperation with Russia in the Afghan war, including expanding an existing transit agreement to allow for armored vehicles to be transported to and from Afghanistan, a spokesman said Wednesday.
A new accord would also allow NATO to ferry equipment back to Europe by the same route through Central Asia and Russia, spokesman James Appathurai said.
The alliance already uses routes through Russia and neighboring Central Asian states as an alternative to its main, ambush-prone, logistics route through Pakistan. But current arrangements allow only for the transport of non-lethal supplies such as food and fuel.
Ongoing talks on Afghanistan highlight the improving ties between the former Cold War rivals in the Afghan war, where the U.S. and NATO already have about 150,000 troops. Russia, which fears the expansion of Islamic extremism along its southern borders, has refused to deploy its own forces in Afghanistan, but has offered to help NATO’s war effort.
In another sign of the warming ties, NATO’s 28 leaders and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev were scheduled to meet in Lisbon, Portugal, next week on the sidelines of a NATO summit. They are expected to conclude agreements on transport routes and other issues.
Appathurai said that NATO is asking Moscow to supply 20 Russian-built Mil-17 transport helicopters for the nascent Afghan air force and to provide training for their pilots and crews. The force already operates several dozen used Mils, which are popular with the Afghans because of their rugged build and ease of maintenance.
"The real question that’s being examined is how the financing for the training will be arranged," Appathurai said, adding that NATO nations were considering setting up a separate trust fund for this purpose.
Russia is also considering opening a new training center for counter-narcotics agents near St. Petersburg, Appathurai told reporters. NATO would like the new facility to train drug agents from Pakistan and other regional nations, he said.
Russia has repeatedly expressed concerns over the sharp increase in drug smuggling from Afghanistan since the war there heated up several years ago. It already operates a training center for counter-narcotics agents from Afghanistan and Central Asian nations near Moscow.
NATO also is seeking to enlist Russian cooperation in an anti-missile system it hopes to deploy in Europe.
"What we hope from the Lisbon summit is to take cooperation forward … for the benefit of all 29 nations," Appathurai said.
