Russians rebuff NATO's call for Afghan helicopter support

Russia has apparently rejected a NATO request for the provision of helicopters for the war in Afghanistan.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made the request during a visit to Moscow on 16 December. He also asked for aid in training the Afghan air force.

Rasmussen said that while he had presented the Russian government with a list of "concrete proposals" he had received no positive response. The requests – referred to in the Russian media as 'Rasmussen's List' – included the delivery of a number of helicopters to the Afghan National Army, the deployment of experts to train helicopter pilots for the air force and anti-drug officers for the police. He also advocated the expansion of transit rights for NATO supplies, including military hardware, via Russia to Afghanistan.

Rasmussen insisted that Russia was a strong partner of NATO in the war effort, despite a lack of concrete agreements secured on his visit.

"The Russians do realise that if we left Afghanistan behind and if Afghanistan once again became a safe haven for terrorism then they could suffer from it because terrorists would spread from Afghanistan through Central Asia to Russia," he said.