NATO in talks with the Russians to increase transit capacities

(B2) The Ulyanovsk base, near the Volga, will become a "hub" for transporting the equipment of NATO forces returning from Afghanistan. Moscow is in talks with the Alliance for a new transit deal, according to Kommersant citing Defense Ministry sources.

The agreement will allow Russia to obtain compensation to increase the capacity of the Russian airport. A veritable airlift will be put in place to repatriate all the equipment of the various armies engaged in Afghanistan. The goods will first be transported by plane to Ulyanovsk before returning by train to Europe.

Ulyanovsk is known to industrialists for being home to Aviastar, which manufactures the transport juggernaut, the Antonov 124 known as "Rousslan". The airport was already used to transport about half of ISAF's (officially non-lethal) supplies and equipment to Afghanistan. It is now a question of meeting the needs of the troops on the spot whereas the road by Pakistan becomes difficult (sometimes blocked) and also of accelerating the repatriation of the materials.