Russia and NATO have completed negotiations on drafting an agreement allowing the alliance to carry supplies to and from Afghanistan across the Russian territory, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Saturday.
The Lisbon Summit Declaration welcomed "the new extended arrangements offered by Russia to facilitate ISAF transit to and from Afghanistan."
The new deal on the so-called reverse transit will allow NATO to ship armored vehicles and other equipment from Afghanistan back to Europe by the same route through Central Asia and Russia.
The bloc already uses routes through Russia and neighboring Central Asian states but current arrangements allow only for the transport of non-lethal supplies such as food and fuel.
NATO pledged earlier on Saturday to hand over responsibility for security in Afghanistan to Afghans by the end of 2014, but also vowed not to leave the country to face the Taliban threat alone.
LISBON, November 20 (RIA Novosti)
