OMM Newsroom
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that an ISIS branch was seeking to undermine the Taliban government in Kabul and use Afghanistan as a base to expand its activities into Central Asia and Russia.
Speaking at a joint security conference in Moscow involving the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Lavrov said terrorist and extremist groups had a significant presence in Afghan border areas near Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, including training camps and strongholds.
He alleged that militants were trying to enter Central Asian countries, sometimes posing as refugees or tourists. Lavrov also warned of efforts to smuggle weapons and drugs from Afghanistan through the region into Russia.
Lavrov called on Russia and its Central Asian partners to coordinate their response to security threats more closely, including through regional organizations and cooperation with Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities.
He said Moscow considered engagement with the Taliban government necessary and supported efforts to integrate Afghanistan into regional economic processes, as well as provide economic and humanitarian assistance.
“We proceed from the premise that the government—the Taliban movement—is a reality that must be reckoned with,” Lavrov said. “An increasing number of countries around the world are already demonstrating this understanding.”
Lavrov criticized NATO’s expanding security role, saying the alliance sought to impose its will far beyond its area of responsibility. He argued that Eurasia needed a security framework developed by its own countries.
He reiterated Russia’s support for a Greater Eurasian Partnership and a new continental security architecture involving countries and regional organizations across Eurasia.
