MOSCOW - Russia's possible assistance in delivering cargo for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan does not envision the presence of either military or civilian personnel of NATO member-states near Ulyanovsk, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"There will not and cannot be any NATO military base or transit center in Ulyanovsk. Presence of neither military nor civilian personnel of the alliance countries is planned. The matter implies only analysis of the possibility of transit of exclusively nonlethal (non-military) cargo for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in a combined way, i.e. by air, by automobile, or by rail through Russian territory," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement posted on the ministry’s official Web site on Tuesday.
Reports alleging that Russia plans to host a NATO base near Ulyanovsk are absolutely unwarranted, Zakharova said. "No negotiations have ever been held on this, and such a possibility has not been discussed even in theory," she said.
While aspects of Russia’s foreign policy concerning national security are in the focus of public attention, "attempts by some political forces to circulate wittingly distorted information again and again cannot cause anything but surprise," she said.
"By the way, we are seeing similar attempts in the U.S. in the heat of the election campaign, with some politicians feeling nostalgic for the Cold War times," Zakharova said.
There is nothing new or sensational in the fact that Russia is providing support in transit cargos for ISAF, she said.
