http://registan.net/index.php/2008/11/19/border-woes/ Central Asia News -- All Central Asia, All The Time Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:00:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://registan.net/index.php/2008/11/19/border-woes/comment-page-1/#comment-379034 Peter Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:50:10 +0000 http://www.registan.net/index.php/2008/11/19/border-woes/#comment-379034 For what it’s worth, the head of the Russian-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization Nikolai Bordyuzha said in late September that Russia had no plans to stop transiting non-lethal cargo for the coalition troops in Afghanistan. The conditions under which this material is transported have been hammered out in deals between NATO and CSTO members Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. From a purely pragmatic point of view, it is hard to conceive of any real reason that Russia would want to break off this agreement, Georgian conflict notwithstanding. The issue of when the U.S. was warning contractors about security concerns in Pakistan seems unrelated to this and any other Russian-Central Asian transit arrangements, since it is clear that Western allies have always sought multiple route options. Another example is the lingering speculation that Turkmenistan may accommodate some kind of NATO facility, which would again probably be limited to strictly non-military functions were it to come into existence; which is highly unlikely anyway in my view. For what it’s worth, the head of the Russian-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization Nikolai Bordyuzha said in late September that Russia had no plans to stop transiting non-lethal cargo for the coalition troops in Afghanistan.
The conditions under which this material is transported have been hammered out in deals between NATO and CSTO members Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
From a purely pragmatic point of view, it is hard to conceive of any real reason that Russia would want to break off this agreement, Georgian conflict notwithstanding.
The issue of when the U.S. was warning contractors about security concerns in Pakistan seems unrelated to this and any other Russian-Central Asian transit arrangements, since it is clear that Western allies have always sought multiple route options.
Another example is the lingering speculation that Turkmenistan may accommodate some kind of NATO facility, which would again probably be limited to strictly non-military functions were it to come into existence; which is highly unlikely anyway in my view.

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