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#15 - JRL 8144 - JRL Home
MOSCOW SATISFIED WITH WASHINGTON'S ASSURANCES CONCERNING US TROOPS IN CENTRAL ASIA

MOSCOW, March 30 (RIA Novosti). Russia regards as sufficient the assurances of the US administration concerning the presence of US troops in Central Asia, Foreign Ministry's official spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said at a press conference in RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

"We discussed the issue of the US military presence in the region and got a clear-cut answer, according to which the duration of that presence will be limited to the counter-terrorist operation in Afghanistan," said Yakovenko.

Replying to a question about the possible signing of agreements that would regulate military presence in the region, the spokesman said that such issues are decided on a bilateral basis. He said about Moscow's attitude to the nuclear programme of Iran that Russia's stand would depend on Teheran's relations with the IAEA.

Yakovenko also said he noted information about Iran's plans to launch experimental production of uranium in 20 days. However, the Foreign Ministry has no official Iranian information on this issue.

Russia calls for active interaction of Iran and the IAEA, he said and recalled that Teheran had assumed additional pledges to the agency, which Moscow welcomed. "In the future, Russia's stand will depend on Iran-IAEA relations," said the ministry spokesman.