Russia meanwhile is dismissing reports that it will deploy tens of thousands of troops to Iraq. A Defense Ministry spokeperson said yesterday that “Russia’s position remains unchanged. We are not going to send Russian military personnel to conflict zones in Afghanistan or Iraq, either for free or in exchange for economic benefits.” The Texas-based private consulting group Stategic Forecasting published a analysis this week saying that Moscow and Washington are discussing a Bush administration request for Russia to send troops to one of the two hot spots this fall.