Lavrov: Russia to allow transit of U.S. supplies to Afghanistan

MOSCOW. February 6. KAZINFORM - Russia is ready to allow the transit of U.S. non-military supplies to Afghanistan through its territory, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday; Kazinform has learned from Xinhuanet.

The U.S. administration approached the Kremlin several days ago, asking for permission to ship supplies to Afghanistan across Russia, Lavrov said. "We expect the U.S. side to send a request on the quantity and the nature of the supplies. We will give a relevant permission as soon as this happens," he said in an interview broadcast by Vesti 24 television Friday. On the closure of the Manas base, which is a key U.S. base supporting operations in Afghanistan, the top Russian diplomat said this was a sovereign decision of Kyrgyz authorities. Russia and NATO signed an agreement in April 2008 on the transit of non-military cargoes across Russian territory for NATO forces in Afghanistan.