Russia will do everything, including using a military base in Tajikistan, to protect its allies from the threat from Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday at a press conference following talks with Laotian Foreign Minister Salomsay Kommasit.
"We will do everything, including using the capabilities of the Russian military base on Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan, to prevent any aggressive encroachments on our allies," Lavrov said.
The minister recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin has held talks with his counterparts from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and is in contact with other Central Asian leaders. "Commitments within the CSTO remain fully in force. Representatives of the organization's secretariat visited the Tajik-Afghan border area, assessed the situation and will report to the permanent council," the foreign minister stressed.
The minister noted that Russia is closely observing the situation in Afghanistan. "The situation tends to worsen rapidly, including in the context of a hasty withdrawal of American and other NATO troops that during decades in that country have not achieved visible results in terms of stabilizing the situation there," Lavrov pointed out.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS