Russia's foreign minister says Moscow will let NATO take armored vehicles through its territory to Afghanistan under an expanded transit deal.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow Thursday that the opening of the Russian route applies to vehicles with anti-mine protection.
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced last week at a NATO-Russia Council meeting that Russia had agreed to increase its cooperation on the war in Afghanistan, allowing more equipment to be moved through the country to support NATO troops.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev led the NATO-Russia Council talks in Lisbon. It was the first gathering of the 29-member group since April 2008, just before Moscow's brief war with Georgia, a Western ally.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.