US welcomes first lethal cargo flight via Russia to Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON, October 9 (Itar-Tass) -- The United States welcomed on
Thursday the first transit flight carrying lethal material to Afghanistan
across the Russian airspace.

"The United States welcomes the inaugural flight of material
transiting Russia en route to Afghanistan to support ISAF operations. This
flight is the result of an agreement between the United States and the
Russian Federation reached during the Presidential summit in Moscow in
July about transit of lethal material through Russian airspace. It is a
complement to our agreement on shipment of non-lethal supplies to ISAF
across Russian territory that has been running smoothly for several
months. Together, these provide valuable alternate supply routes to our
troops in Afghanistan. Russia's agreement to allow the United States to
transit lethal equipment across its territory in support of ISAF
operations is an important contribution to our efforts to improve security
and stability in Afghanistan. We look forward to many more flights under
this agreement," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a statement.

.Clinton to discuss START, Iran, Afghanistan, Georgia in Russia.

WASHINGTON, October 9 (Itar-Tass) -- US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton will visit Russia next week to discuss a new strategic arms
reduction treaty, as well as cooperation on Iran, Afghanistan, the Middle
East and North Korea, a high-ranking State Department official told
reporters on Thursday on conditions of anonymity. Georgia will also be on
the agenda.
Arms reduction will occupy most of the talks, as the current agreement
expires in December, the official said, adding the parties have reached
major progress, but details have yet to be considered.
As for the missile defense issue, it will be discussed, but will not
be the main item on the agenda. The official said Washington does not
reject the Russian proposal to jointly use the radars in Armavir and in
Azerbaijan's Qabala for missile defense. The radar issue remains on the
agenda, he said.
As for Georgia, Clinton will support its territorial integrity and
will call on Russia to observe all commitments of the ceasefire agreement,
according to the official.
Besides Moscow, Clinton will also visit Kazan in Muslim Tatarstan.

.Putin to discuss pharmaceutical industry development.

MOSCOW, October 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will
visit the Binnopharm Company in the town of Zelenograd near Moscow on
Friday to discuss the development strategy for the pharmaceutical industry.
The government press service said it is planned to design a complex of
measures that will cancel state registration of substances, temporarily
decrease import duties on pharmaceutical substances that are not produced
in Russia, and launch domestic production to replace expensive foreign
medicines.
The development strategy envisages three stages of innovation
development of the pharmaceutical industry - to produce and design
medicinal preparations in Russia in compliance with world standards
(2009-2012), to develop licensed production of innovative medicines by
integrated structures of producers and designers (2013-2017), and to
design and produce competitive domestic preparations and export them
(2018-2020).
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