The U.S. government now considered necessary to maintain a contract with Russia for the purchase of helicopters for Afghanistan, after a group of senators asked cancel due to tension with Moscow about Syria.
The State Department spokesman, Victoria Nuland, defended a contract by the U.S. plans to buy 21 Mi-17 helicopters from Russia by 2016, after 17 senators from both parties request its cancellation.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the senators, led by Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican Jon Kyl, cancel the agreement called for $ 900 million with a consortium of Russian state arms export, Rosoboronexport.
To hold the contract, the senators wrote, America would be forcing its citizens to "indirectly subsidize the mass murder of Syrian civilians" because the same company is responsible for supplying weapons to Damascus.
Nuland said that the Obama administration "obviously shared purpose" of the senators, which is "to persuade Russia to end its arms supplies to Syria." Read more finance news.
However, "if this contract is canceled, it would seriously damage our efforts to bring progressive leadership to the Afghans to their own security," he said.
The spokesman stated that the contract is "relatively modest" and said allowing "the maintenance and development of some Soviet helicopters" that make up the base of the Afghan air fleet.
Nuland referred to a part of the agreement signed between the U.S. and Russia in May 2011, which Washington would acquire, in addition to helicopters, a package of spare parts, equipment and maintenance services.
United States sought to strengthen the potential that agreement the Army and the Afghan armed forces when its troops finally leave the Central Asian country in 2014.
The letter from the legislators to Panetta, who has not received a formal response from the Department of Defense, coincides with the announcement that Russia will not review its military cooperation with Syria, and will comply with all arms sales contracts signed with the regime of Bashar al-Asad.
"It's no secret that we have a good, solid military cooperation with Syria. And today we have no reason to revise our agreements," said Anatoly Antonov, Russian deputy defense minister was quoted by Russian news agencies.
