Role In Removing Much U.S. Equipment During The 2014 U.S. Drawdown.” “Russia seeks to contain U.S. power in Central Asia and to prevent the infiltration of radical Islamists based in Afghanistan into Russia. In part acting on the latter interest, Russia cooperated in developing the Northern Distribution Network supply line to Afghanistan. In February 2009, Russia allowed a resumption of shipment of non- lethal equipment into Afghanistan through Russia. (Russia had suspended the shipments in 2008 over differences over the Russia-Georgia conflict.) About half of all ground cargo for U.S. forces in Afghanistan flowed through the Northern Distribution Network from 2011-2014, despite the extra costs as compared to the Pakistan route. The route played a significant role in removing much U.S. equipment during the 2014 U.S. drawdown.” [Congressional Research Service, 2/24/15] • Defense News: Pakistan Had Closed Its Border To The US, Which Forced Them To Rely On Northern Routes Of Transport, Including Through Russia, Even Though They Were Longer And More Expensive. “Pakistan has agreed to reopen its border to NATO supply convoys into Afghanistan after a seven-month blockade, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said July 3, adding Washington was sorry for the loss of life in a botched U.S. air raid last year…The border blockade has forced the United States and its allies to rely on much longer, more expensive northern routes through Central Asia, Russia and the Caucasus. The cost of ferrying supplies by air and over northern railways and roads has cost the U.S. military about $100 million a month, according to the Pentagon.” [Defense News, 7/3/12] Associated Press: Following Clinton’s First Visit To Russia As Secretary Of State In October 2009, A Senior Official Confirmed An “Agreement That Allows U.S. Military Planes To Transport Lethal Materiel Over Russia To Afghanistan.” “Clinton's visit to Moscow is her first since becoming Washington's top diplomat and since President Barack Obama, who visited Russia in July, vowed to ‘reset’ U.S.-Russia relations. The senior official traveling with Clinton said that there had been some improvements in cooperation, including a recent agreement that allows U.S. military planes to transport lethal materiel over Russia to Afghanistan.” [Associated Press, 10/12/09] SECRETARY CLINTON WAS AT TIMES AN OUTSPOKEN CRITIC OF RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN Washington Post: Putin Blamed Secretary Clinton For Inciting Protests Against His Administration, Saying “She Set A Tone For Some Of Our Public Figures…They Heard This Signal And Launched Active Work With The U.S. State Department.” “Putin lacerated Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for questioning the validity of last Sunday’s parliamentary elections and suggested that she had galvanized thousands of protesters by declaring the vote ‘neither free nor fair.’ ‘She set the tone for some of our public figures inside the country, sent a signal to them. They heard this signal and launched active work with the U.S. State Department’s support,’ he said.” [Washington Post, 12/8/11] Reuters: In A Speech To The Organization For Security And Cooperation In Europe, Secretary Clinton Called Russia’s 2011 Parliamentary Elections “Neither Free Nor Fair.” “‘When authorities fail to prosecute those who attack people for exercising their rights or exposing abuses, they subvert justice and undermine the people's confidence in their governments,’ Clinton said in a speech at the meeting of the 56-nation OSCE, Europe's biggest rights watchdog. ‘As we have seen in many places, and most recently in the Duma elections in Russia, elections that are neither free nor fair have the same effect,’ she added, in comments that went a step further than her criticism of the vote on Monday.” [Reuters, 12/6/11] Los Angeles Times: Secretary Clinton Criticized The Conviction Of Russian Businessman Mikhail Khodorovsky, Saying It “Raises Serious Questions About…The Rule Of Law Being Overshadowed By Political Considerations.” “‘Today's conviction in the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev on charges of embezzlement and money laundering raises serious questions about selective prosecution -- and about the rule of law being overshadowed by political considerations,’ Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement. ‘This and similar cases have a negative impact on Russia's reputation for fulfilling its international human rights obligations and improving its investment climate.’” [Los Angeles Times, 12/28/10]