PRESS RELEASE
Moscow Ends NATO’s Supply Route Through Russia to Afghanistan
May 20, 2015 (EIRNS)On May 18, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a resolution bringing to an end NATO’s transit route through Russia to Afghanistan, known as the Northern Distribution Network. The official reason for the order is that the UN mandate authorizing NATO’s International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan expired on Dec. 31, 2014, and was replaced by security agreements between the US, NATO, and the Afghan government. Indeed, Western news reports are treating Medvedev’s order as nothing more than that, but a report in Russia Beyond the Headlines quoting analysts in Moscow, suggests there may be other factors at play here, including Western sanctions against Russia. Military expert and editor of Arsenal of the Fatherland Viktor Murakhovsky, told RBTH that Russia was hoping for cooperation with NATO in the fight against terrorism, and particularly against the Taliban in Afghanistan. "It turns out that NATO has gone so far that it does not want to cooperate even in this area," he said.
