Moscow sees the basic points of the U.S. new strategy on Afghanistan outlined by President Barack Obama in his address to the nation on Tuesday night as being positive, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"We presume that the Afghan people, president and government, relying on battle-worthy armed forces and healthy economy, should finally meet the challenges which the country is facing," the ministry said in a statement.
On Tuesday night, President Obama said in his address to the nation the U.S. would send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan in the first part of 2010.
"In this regard, we support the transfer of ... responsibility for the situation in the country... to the Afghan authorities outlined in the new U.S. strategy," the statement said.
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after Obama's speech that he expected the other 42 troop-contributing nations to deploy an extra 5,000 soldiers to Afghanistan.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and a separate U.S.-led coalition, involved in Operation Enduring Freedom, have a total of 112,000 troops in Afghanistan.
The U.S., which has so far contributed the largest number of troops, has some 68,000 troops there, and the number will increase to 98,000 when the new troops are deployed.
MOSCOW, December 2 (RIA Novosti)
