NATO wants Russia to provide help more in Afghan war effort

NATO wants Russia to help more in Afghanistan

BRUSSELS — NATO wants Russia to help the escalating war effort in Afghanistan by donating more weapons — including AK-47 assault rifles, grenade launchers, field artillery and armored vehicles — and by providing other military assistance to the expanding Afghan army, officials said Friday.

Alliance spokesman James Appathurai said there was “definitely scope for more” collaboration with Russia in the war.

New NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen will make his first visit to Moscow on Tuesday. He has called for a “true strategic partnership” with Russia.

Appathurai said Fogh Rasmussen will highlight the joint threats facing both Russia and NATO members, including international terrorism, naval anti-piracy efforts and counter-narcotics. But the situation in Afghanistan will be the focus of the talks.

Fogh Rasmussen is scheduled to meet President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

“He does see Afghanistan as being a very important part of out cooperation for next year, and to see what more we can do together with regard to Afghanistan,” Appathurai said.

Relations between NATO and Moscow have improved significantly since they were frozen for six months in the aftermath of last year’s Russia-Georgia war.

But the Kremlin still objects to any further NATO expansion into what used to be the Soviet Union, and particularly to plans to eventually bring Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance.

Moscow has repeatedly expressed its willingness to help the war effort in Afghanistan, due to fears that any return to power by Taliban extremists would destabilize Central Asia and endanger Russia’s own security.

Russia has allowed NATO nations to use its territory for the overland transport of supplies to Afghanistan. NATO commanders have been pushing for shipment of supplies to the growing international force in Afghanistan via this route because the normal supply route to the landlocked nation through Pakistan has come under repeated Taliban attacks.

The Russians also have trained thousands of Afghan anti-narcotics police officers at a training center near Moscow.

Kremlin officials had suggested further cooperation was likely, but have ruled out sending any troops. They also have complained that NATO has not been keeping them informed about its plans for the war, saying improved cooperation was essential for the success of the mission.

But diplomats accredited to NATO say they want specific help from Russia, especially in donating — rather than selling — weapons to the Afghan army. The new army now numbers nearly 100,000 men but is scheduled to expand to 134,000 by next October, with another 100,000 troops to be added over the next three years.

Two diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with standing rules, said the Afghan army — which is already overwhelmingly equipped with Russian arms — would need more machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and especially tens of thousands of Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles, to complement the field artillery guns and armored vehicles.

The 1940s-era AK-47 remains the preferred automatic weapon of both the Afghan guerrillas and the security forces because of its long-range performance, officials say.

NATO is also seeking up to half a dozen refurbished Antonov An-32 light tactical transports to join the four currently in service with the nascent Afghan air force, one of the diplomats said. The planes are specifically designed to perform well in the hot-and-high conditions prevalent in much of Afghanistan.