Saturday, Jul 12, 2003
Russia to step up defence aid to Afghanistan
By Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW JULY 11. Russia will expand deliveries of military equipment and spare parts to Afghanistan, but will refrain for the moment from supplying new weapons.
In addition to transport aircraft, helicopters, communication equipment, trucks, spare parts and fuel, Russia is planning to supply airfield equipment to Afghanistan, the Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, said today after talks with the visiting Defence Minister of Afghanistan, Mohammad Fahim.
He also said Russia was training military personnel for Afghanistan. At the same time, Mr. Ivanov said Russian defence assistance to Afghanistan would not include deliveries of weapons.
Gen. Fahim is reported to have asked Moscow to replenish stocks of Russian-made weapons, which constitute close to 100 per cent of the Afghan defence inventory. However, Mr. Ivanov said after the talks that "there is no talk of arms supplies.''
On the one hand, Russia is keen to help rebuild the Afghan armed forces to enable them to deal with the resurgent terrorist and narcotic threats.
``Russia will do whatever is necessary for peace and calm to settle on the long-suffering land of Afghanistan,'' the Russian Minister said.
Moscow has also vowed to extend intelligence and logistic assistance to NATO peacekeeping forces when they take control of the anti-terror operation in Afghanistan next month.
On the other hand, Moscow is reluctant to pour arms into a country whose political future is still rather vague.
``The (President, Hamid) Karzai Government is seen as transitional and nobody knows who will lead Afghanistan in the near future,'' a senior source in the Russian Defence Ministry was quoted as saying.
"Russia should tread very cautiously in the given circumstances.''
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