Russia-NATO Cooperation

"LandepNews"

Russia-NATO Cooperation

Russia made the United States an unprecedented proposal, offering NATO to use the Vostochny airport in the Volga region of Ulyanovsk for aircraft refueling and the transit of the “non lethal” supplies and personnel. Moscow says it is an offer that is intended to ease the strain on the alliance’s supply chain to the forces in Afghanistan. Moscow had made this promise in Portugal, in 2010, when a cooperation was proposed between the Russian Federation and NATO.

The move comes at a moment when NATO faces serious troubles in Afghanistan both in regard to the supply of the troops and the anti-American of the Afghan population, caused by the latest incidents that shocked the entire world.

Thus, the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and the supply of the troops in the field necessitate a route to link Afghanistan to the countries that compose the NATO alliance. The situation became more difficult after the Pakistani route was closed in November 2011, following some drones attacks into Pakistani territory.

The military installation in Kyrgyzstan, Manas Transit Center, was used by the American troops ever since to refuel the planes in the air, and to make possible that traffic is assured in and out of Afghanistan.

Recently, however, the Kyrgyz leadership has manifested the desire to turn the airport into a civilian one. The American contract with the Central Asian government expires in 2014, and is expected to be continued.

The president of Kyrgyzstan said in an interview that Iran shall not be attacked from the territory of his country, and expressed fear that if an attack occurred on Iran, the Islamic country may want to retaliate, and attack the base near the Kyrgyz capital.

The plan needs to be approved by the Russian government, though there is little doubt that it could be barred, since it is considered to come from the Kremlin. If approved, some 30 NATO cargo flights can come to Vostochny every day.

Russian analysts consider that this change of heart means that Russian president-elect Vladimir Putin is attempting to turn away from the anti-American rhetoric during the presidential campaign. Putin is considered to want to return to a more normal cooperation with the West.

During the presidential campaign, Putin attacked the NATO anti-missile shield in the Eastern Europe, and promised that the military budget will be increased for the years to come.

A precipitated pullout of Afghanistan, put on the table as a variable following the killing spree in an Afghan village last Sunday, is said to have created a tension in Russia, as the Russian leaders fear that a return of the Taliban would create a surge of the Islamic radicalism in Central Asia.

The base at Ulyanovsk is said by the local authorities to bring economic development and would be the least Russia could do after ten years in which NATO and the U.S. army have been protecting the federation against the Taliban influence in the region.

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