Monitoring Desk: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who is in Uzbekistan for two-day visit discussed situation in Afghanistan with Uzbek leadership, reports Russian state media.
Media reports suggested that both the countries reiterated their resolve to stop possible entry of terrorism from Afghanistan. Lavrov is in Tashkent to discuss Afghanistan situation.
“The agenda of the talks included the situation in Afghanistan and the Russian-Uzbek cooperation in order to facilitate the peace process in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary over the visit.
Moscow also noted an increase in the coordination of the two countries on the Afghan issue, in particular, cooperation within the framework of the Moscow format and the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group. The Foreign Ministry welcomed the efforts of Uzbekistan to promote national reconciliation in Afghanistan, including the holding of a conference in Tashkent in March 2018.
TASS Added:
“We talked about processes underway in Central Asia, including in the context of the necessity to stop the terrorist and drug trafficking threat coming from the territory of Afghanistan,” Lavrov said adding that “on this issue, we have very similar positions.”
The sides “discussed further steps to facilitate the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan via bilateral channels and through existing multirateral mechanisms, so that Afghanistan becomes a stable country and does not pose any threats to its neighbors in Central Asia” and other countries, the foreign minister noted.
