America has 56,000 troops in Afghanistan A senior Obama administration official has told the BBC that Russia has agreed to let US troops bound for the war in Afghanistan fly through its airspace. The deal, which opens up an important new corridor for the US military, is to be officially announced when President Barack Obama visits Moscow next week. Speaking separately, a Kremlin official confirmed a deal was on the table but suggested it referred to weapons only. The reported agreement marks a major development in US-Russian relations. They haven't asked us for it [permission to transport US troops via Russian territory] Sergei Prikhodko Russian presidential adviser Putin urges Obama to scrap shield US urges Russian break from past Until now Russia has restricted use of its territory for the Afghan conflict, only allowing the... [read full story]
