ID :
70504
Wed, 07/15/2009 - 15:16
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/70504
The shortlink copeid
Russia-US deal on military transit comes into effect in 2 months
WASHINGTON, July 15 (Itar-Tass) - The agreement on U.S. military
transit to Afghanistan through Russia, signed between Moscow and
Washington, will come into effect in two months, spokesman for the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) Kevin Andal told Tass on Tuesday.
He
said the agreement comes into effect 60 days after being signed.
He said the American side is grateful for this agreement, which gives
U.S. Armed Forces additional possibilities of transit in the efforts to
ensure security, stabilization and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
The spokesman confirmed that under the agreement, U.S.
military-transport aircraft can make 4,500 flights a year to Afghanistan
over Russia. The agreement puts no such restrictions on commercial flights
with an aim to transport American military cargoes and military to
Afghanistan across Russia, he specified.
The U.S. and Russia made an agreement on military transit to
Afghanistan in Moscow last week. It was signed by Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns.
The agreement calls for 4,500 flights a year and supplements the
previous agreement on non-military transit.
The agreement will enable the U.S. to further diversify the crucial
transportation routes and decrease the amount of time needed to move
troops and critical equipment to re-supply international forces in
Afghanistan and to bring needed supplies to the government and people of
Afghanistan. This will permit 4,500 flights per year. The new transit
routes will save the United States government up to 133 million U.S.
dollars annually in fuel, maintenance and other transportation costs, and
this agreement is free of any air navigation charges. By providing access
to these transit routes, the Russian Federation is enabling a substantial
increase in the efficiency of our common effort to defeat the forces of
violent extremism in Afghanistan and to ensure Afghanistan's and the
broader region's security, the White House said.
Conflict and instability in Afghanistan are a threat to the region and
the world. The growing flow of narcotics from Afghanistan threatens the
well-being of Europe and Central Asia, and provides a source of lucrative
funding for terrorists and criminals throughout the region, it said.
The Russian Federation's decision to open these valuable transit
routes supplements its already robust airlift support and provision of
commodities to Coalition efforts in Afghanistan, and further illustrates
that Russia is a valuable member of the international coalition supporting
the security, stability, and reconstruction of Afghanistan, the White
House statement said.
.Russian scientists to explore fish resources in southeast Pacific.
KALININGRAD, July 15 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian scientific-research
ship Atlantida leaves on Wednesday the port city of Kaliningrad for the
south-eastern part of the Pacific Ocean.
It will carry scientists and specialists from the Atlantic Research
Institute of Fishery and Oceanography (AtlantNIRO), the head of the
expedition, Viktor Anikeyev, told Tass. They will make research work to
assess fish resources, and in particular horse mackerel, in that part of
the Pacific Ocean, he said.
Research will be made 500 to 600 miles off Chile, in the so-called
"horse mackerel belt" which was a traditional area of Russian fishery up
till the year 1991. Rich fish resources were discovered there at the end
of the 1970s. Up to 90 vessels operated in that region, producing yearly
up to one million tons of horse mackerel.
In the post-Soviet period Russia practically stopped using that part
of the Pacific because of a big distance and other factors, "and the
Russian fleet appeared there episodically," Anikeyev said.
Now, when the situation changes as concerns international legal rules
and agreements on that fishery region, "time has come for new modern
research work, for determining resources of horse mackerel," he believes.
The scientific group on board the Atlantida consists of 11 people. The
vessel was updated several years ago and is in a good technical condition.
"We possess state-of-the-art scientific equipment installed on the
Atlantida," Anikeyev stressed. The expedition will continue for about
half-a-year, while work in the area will take about three months.
Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov visited the ship
during a working trip to Kaliningrad on July 7. He stressed that Russian
fishermen return to the World Ocean, and this will be the first scientific
expedition over the past seven years.
However, "the Atlantida will not be the only vessel engaged in such
activity, and several similar Russian ships will begin operating in
different parts of the seven seas shortly," Zubkov stressed.
-0-zhe/
transit to Afghanistan through Russia, signed between Moscow and
Washington, will come into effect in two months, spokesman for the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) Kevin Andal told Tass on Tuesday.
He
said the agreement comes into effect 60 days after being signed.
He said the American side is grateful for this agreement, which gives
U.S. Armed Forces additional possibilities of transit in the efforts to
ensure security, stabilization and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
The spokesman confirmed that under the agreement, U.S.
military-transport aircraft can make 4,500 flights a year to Afghanistan
over Russia. The agreement puts no such restrictions on commercial flights
with an aim to transport American military cargoes and military to
Afghanistan across Russia, he specified.
The U.S. and Russia made an agreement on military transit to
Afghanistan in Moscow last week. It was signed by Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns.
The agreement calls for 4,500 flights a year and supplements the
previous agreement on non-military transit.
The agreement will enable the U.S. to further diversify the crucial
transportation routes and decrease the amount of time needed to move
troops and critical equipment to re-supply international forces in
Afghanistan and to bring needed supplies to the government and people of
Afghanistan. This will permit 4,500 flights per year. The new transit
routes will save the United States government up to 133 million U.S.
dollars annually in fuel, maintenance and other transportation costs, and
this agreement is free of any air navigation charges. By providing access
to these transit routes, the Russian Federation is enabling a substantial
increase in the efficiency of our common effort to defeat the forces of
violent extremism in Afghanistan and to ensure Afghanistan's and the
broader region's security, the White House said.
Conflict and instability in Afghanistan are a threat to the region and
the world. The growing flow of narcotics from Afghanistan threatens the
well-being of Europe and Central Asia, and provides a source of lucrative
funding for terrorists and criminals throughout the region, it said.
The Russian Federation's decision to open these valuable transit
routes supplements its already robust airlift support and provision of
commodities to Coalition efforts in Afghanistan, and further illustrates
that Russia is a valuable member of the international coalition supporting
the security, stability, and reconstruction of Afghanistan, the White
House statement said.
.Russian scientists to explore fish resources in southeast Pacific.
KALININGRAD, July 15 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian scientific-research
ship Atlantida leaves on Wednesday the port city of Kaliningrad for the
south-eastern part of the Pacific Ocean.
It will carry scientists and specialists from the Atlantic Research
Institute of Fishery and Oceanography (AtlantNIRO), the head of the
expedition, Viktor Anikeyev, told Tass. They will make research work to
assess fish resources, and in particular horse mackerel, in that part of
the Pacific Ocean, he said.
Research will be made 500 to 600 miles off Chile, in the so-called
"horse mackerel belt" which was a traditional area of Russian fishery up
till the year 1991. Rich fish resources were discovered there at the end
of the 1970s. Up to 90 vessels operated in that region, producing yearly
up to one million tons of horse mackerel.
In the post-Soviet period Russia practically stopped using that part
of the Pacific because of a big distance and other factors, "and the
Russian fleet appeared there episodically," Anikeyev said.
Now, when the situation changes as concerns international legal rules
and agreements on that fishery region, "time has come for new modern
research work, for determining resources of horse mackerel," he believes.
The scientific group on board the Atlantida consists of 11 people. The
vessel was updated several years ago and is in a good technical condition.
"We possess state-of-the-art scientific equipment installed on the
Atlantida," Anikeyev stressed. The expedition will continue for about
half-a-year, while work in the area will take about three months.
Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov visited the ship
during a working trip to Kaliningrad on July 7. He stressed that Russian
fishermen return to the World Ocean, and this will be the first scientific
expedition over the past seven years.
However, "the Atlantida will not be the only vessel engaged in such
activity, and several similar Russian ships will begin operating in
different parts of the seven seas shortly," Zubkov stressed.
-0-zhe/
