Report: Russian Aid to Afghan War Comes With Conditions
Jason Ditz, AntiWar.com, Oct 27 2010
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is reportedly hammering out terms for his nation’s entry into NATO’s Afghan War, with major new demands centering around troop deployments by NATO in Eastern Europe. Russia has long complained of NATO’s eastern expansion, and former Soviet Republics and Warsaw Pact states that have joined the alliance have been seen as a threat, particularly if they are used to deploy massive numbers of NATO forces. Lavrov is said to be demanding significant limitations on those deployments ahead of next month’s NATO summit. Right now the negotiations are centering around key points, Russia deploying helicopters and trainers to Afghanistan and allowing NATO to use its railways to transfer war materiel. At the moment Russia only allows NATO to transfer civilian goods across its country. At the same time, reports are emerging that Russia is also considering more secretive proposals about committing actual ground troops to Afghanistan, formalizing their role in yet another failing Afghan occupation.
