RIGA, Feb 16: A US supply train for Nato troops in Afghanistan, due to transit via Russia, was being formed in Latvia, an official from the Baltic state’s defence ministry said on Monday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to give further details of the shipment, which Moscow has said could leave within days.

A US embassy official said supplies were being shipped into Riga for loading onto the train, which would carry 100 containers across Russia and other countries to Afghanistan.

If successful, 20-30 trainloads per week could eventually be sent, the embassy said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday the United States had asked about shipments to Afghanistan. “We have clearly stated we were ready to do it, because it corresponds completely to the agreements we have concluded with Nato and this transit will literally take place in the coming days,” he said.

The decision to send supplies via Latvia — which broke from the Soviet Union in 1991 and joined Nato in 2004 — came as Kyrgyzstan announced the closure of a United States base serving as a vital route for supplies to Afghanistan.

Washington has been seeking agreement with other ex-Soviet states in Central Asia on supply routes. Recent attacks on a supply line from Pakistan have heightened the need for new routes.—AFP