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RUSSIA TO CONTROL NATO ULYANOVSK TRANSIT BASE - LAVROV
Lyubov Chilikova
RIA Novosti
05/04/2012
Protest against plans to establish a NATO transit base at Ulyanovsk
airport
The projected Ulyanovsk transit base for NATO supplies to and from
Afghanistan will remain under Russian customs control and will have
no NATO civil or military personnel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov said on Thursday.
The U.S. wants to set up a transit supply base for NATO in order to
facilitate the withdrawal of NATO forces from the international ISAF
contingent in Afghanistan in 2013-14.
"It will take place under full customs control of the Russian
Federation," Lavrov said. "No military or civil personnel from NATO
will be there, only Russian customs and Russian companies working in
it," he said at a press conference during his visit to Kyrgyzstan.
Russian forces may also check all freight transiting through the
country for drugs, as Russia has been hit hard by heroin production
in Central Asia, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.
President Medvedev has called Afghan drugs a threat to Russia's
security.
"Russia pays especial attention to security measures, so we have an
agreement with NATO that all transit goods travelling through our
territory may be subject to additional checks, including for drugs,"
Grushko told RIA Novosti.
There are about five million drugs users in Russia, the country's
drugs control chief Viktor Ivanov said in Decemeber.
Russia allows NATO to transport non-military supplies for its operation
in Afghanistan by rail and by air.
Grushko said Russia had no current plans to allow the United States
and other NATO member states to use a Russian air base in the Volga
city of Ulyanovsk as a hub for transits to and from Afghanistan.
"There will be no hub in Ulyanovsk. We are talking about temporary
depots needed for the storage and subsequent loading of aircraft
with non-lethal goods for shipment to the International Security
Assistance Force," Grushko said, adding that the shipments were
"strictly commercial."
Last month, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the
bloc had "no intention of establishing a base in Russia."
"This is a pragmatic arrangement which allows us to transport
non-lethal supplies and troops to benefit our operation in
Afghanistan," he said in a video link-up with RIA Novosti.
The decision provoked protests in Ulyanovsk, the birthplace of
Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin.
Lyubov Chilikova
RIA Novosti
05/04/2012
Protest against plans to establish a NATO transit base at Ulyanovsk
airport
The projected Ulyanovsk transit base for NATO supplies to and from
Afghanistan will remain under Russian customs control and will have
no NATO civil or military personnel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov said on Thursday.
The U.S. wants to set up a transit supply base for NATO in order to
facilitate the withdrawal of NATO forces from the international ISAF
contingent in Afghanistan in 2013-14.
"It will take place under full customs control of the Russian
Federation," Lavrov said. "No military or civil personnel from NATO
will be there, only Russian customs and Russian companies working in
it," he said at a press conference during his visit to Kyrgyzstan.
Russian forces may also check all freight transiting through the
country for drugs, as Russia has been hit hard by heroin production
in Central Asia, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.
President Medvedev has called Afghan drugs a threat to Russia's
security.
"Russia pays especial attention to security measures, so we have an
agreement with NATO that all transit goods travelling through our
territory may be subject to additional checks, including for drugs,"
Grushko told RIA Novosti.
There are about five million drugs users in Russia, the country's
drugs control chief Viktor Ivanov said in Decemeber.
Russia allows NATO to transport non-military supplies for its operation
in Afghanistan by rail and by air.
Grushko said Russia had no current plans to allow the United States
and other NATO member states to use a Russian air base in the Volga
city of Ulyanovsk as a hub for transits to and from Afghanistan.
"There will be no hub in Ulyanovsk. We are talking about temporary
depots needed for the storage and subsequent loading of aircraft
with non-lethal goods for shipment to the International Security
Assistance Force," Grushko said, adding that the shipments were
"strictly commercial."
Last month, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the
bloc had "no intention of establishing a base in Russia."
"This is a pragmatic arrangement which allows us to transport
non-lethal supplies and troops to benefit our operation in
Afghanistan," he said in a video link-up with RIA Novosti.
The decision provoked protests in Ulyanovsk, the birthplace of
Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin.