alternative routes through Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan (termed as the "Northern Distribution Network") but these are longer and less effective than routes through Pakistan. Huge costs are associated with the Central Asian supply lines, and NATO's supply line through Russia is already under a looming danger of closure due to friction over missile defence plans. Being a landlocked country, Afghanistan is highly dependent on Pakistan for its imports. According to figures released by The Pentagon in January 2012, the United States was paying six times more to send supplies to troops in Afghanistan via alternative supply routes following the closure of Pakistani routes. The figures placed the new US costs at $104 million per month, roughly $87 million costlier per month than when the cargo was transported via Pakistan. The high costs were associated with the routes being lengthier. Continued strife In late March 2012, a US military official stated that the United States would have to use routes through the Northern Distribution Network (NDN) for supplies to Afghanistan if Pakistan refused to reopen its supply lines. However, he conceded the expensiveness of these routes and noted that negotiations with Pakistan regarding the possibility of opening of the supply routes were ongoing. After reviewing United States-Pakistan relations and outlining what was needed to repair bilateral relations, the Pakistani parliament turned the decision of reopening the NATO supply lines over to the government in April 2012. Due to an upcoming general election in Pakistan, with widespread anti-American sentiments in the country, the Pakistani government was reluctant to reopen the lines, and postponed its decision until the United States responded positively to Pakistani demands outlined in the parliamentary recommendations, such as a US apology for the November 2011 incident, the bringing of those involved in the strike to justice, and a stop to US drone airstrikes. Talks between Pakistan and the United States failed in April 2012 after Pakistan could not get an unconditional apology from the United States for the November 2011 incident. The White House refused to apologise after Taliban attacks in Kabul and other cities in Afghanistan on 15 April 2012, which according to US military and intelligence officials came from the Haqqani network, an Afghan group working from a base in North Waziristan along the Afghanistan border in Pakistan's tribal belt. Pakistani officials said they cannot open the NATO supply routes in Afghanistan without a US apology.