(Adds comments by U.S. defense chief in paragraphs 10-12) MOSCOW, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A senior American diplomat will hold talks with Russian officials on Tuesday about opening new supply routes across Russian territory to NATO forces in Afghanistan, the U.S. embassy said. The talks come less than a week after Kyrgyzstan announced it will close a U.S. air base on its territory that provides logistical support by air to American troops fighting the Taliban in nearby Afghanistan. Russia has signaled readiness to expand cooperation in supplying non-military equipment to U.S. forces and other NATO contingents in Afghanistan. Such shipments would also have to pass through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to reach the conflict zone. Supply routes through Pakistan have become increasingly vulnerable to militant attacks over the last year. "The deputy assistant secretary of state, Patrick Moon, who is responsible for Afghanistan, is in Moscow and he is going to be engaged in discussions with Russian officials on NATO-Russia transit arrangements," a U.S. embassy spokesman said. Russia does not have a formal agreement with NATO, but has agreed to allow transit non-military supplies, for example building materials, to Afghanistan. Moon's talks will continue on Wednesday and will touch on other issues where the United States is seeking to enlist greater international assistance to support Kabul's government against a resurgent Taliban. "The provision of military and other assistance to the Afghans, counternarcotics and counterterrorism will also be discussed," said the embassy spokesman. Kyrgyzstan's President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the closure of the Manas air base on Feb. 3 in Moscow, hours after securing $2 billion in Russian aid. Moscow denies any link between the two announcements. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates called Manas "important but not irreplaceable" and said Washington was looking at the possibility of changing the terms of compensation even as it seeks alternatives in other countries. "By the same token, we're not prepared to stay there at any price," Gates told reporters at a Pentagon briefing. The United States pays Kyrgyzstan $17.4 million a year to use the air base as part of a $150 million annual aid package for Bishkek. President Barack Obama is considering plans to nearly double the size of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan to about 60,000 troops over the next 12 to 18 months. Gates told U.S. senators on Jan. 27 that Obama had made the war in Afghanistan his top overseas military priority. "There is little doubt that our greatest military challenge right now is Afghanistan," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month. (Reporting by Conor Sweeney in Moscow and David Morgan in Washington)
A woman holds a balloon which reads as "Tariffs", during a protest by the Kremlin-loyal Fair Russia party denouncing rising prices and tariffs in Moscow February 10, 2009. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin (RUSSIA) ...
