Washington. September 30th. INTERFAX - The United States is negotiating with countries bordering Afghanistan on the use of their military facilities, including Russian military bases, for counterterrorism operations, Politico reports, citing U.S. senators.
According to lawmakers who attended the closed part of the hearings with the Pentagon leadership, three senior officials of the US Armed Forces informed them about the discussions that are taking place with the governments of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries.
They noted that we are talking about the deployment of "over-the-horizon" means in these countries that would make it easier for the US military to monitor and strike targets in a country controlled by the Taliban (the Taliban movement is banned in the Russian Federation).
The senators clarified that these facilities may include bases operated by Russia in these countries.
Earlier, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin admitted at a hearing in the US Senate Committee on Armed Forces Affairs that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, Mark Milley, during recent talks with the chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov, found out exactly how the Russian Federation could help the US military with operations in Afghanistan.
"As I understand it, this question (about cooperation with the Russian Federation - IF) arose during a conversation between Presidents Biden and Putin. Then President Putin offered to help," he said.
"As far as I know, General Milli asked (Gerasimov - IF) to clarify what exactly this proposal is," Austin said.
He said that the US military would conduct operations related to Afghanistan without asking permission from Russia. "We are not asking permission from Russia to do anything," Austin said.
He touched upon the topic of the meeting between Gerasimov and Milli, responding to a request from one of the senators to comment on the publication of The Wall Street Journal. According to the newspaper, Milli discussed with his Russian counterpart the possibility of using Russian military bases in Central Asia to respond to any emerging terrorist threats in Afghanistan. As the newspaper clarifies, Gerasimov did not give Milli a specific answer.
Russian-American contacts between the General Staffs took place after the withdrawal of US troops and their allies from Afghanistan, and the Taliban movement came to power in Afghanistan.