Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar has handed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin from the president of the republic, Ashraf Ghani.
"President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani personally would like to convey and express his gratitude for the assistance and aid provided by the Russian side to Afghanistan and the Afghan people over the past twenty years," Atmar said on Friday at a meeting with Lavrov. - "Taking the opportunity, the President of Afghanistan would like to pass through you a message to His Excellency Vladimir Putin, the respected Russian President, that Afghanistan is a friendly country, a partner country and a country that would like to be friends with the Russian state and people".
He also expressed gratitude for supporting Afghanistan during the pandemic. "Here is the personal contribution of the distinguished Ambassador Mr. [Special Representative of the Russian President for Afghanistan, Director of the Second Asia Department of the Foreign Ministry Zamir] Kabulov and other high-ranking officials of the Russian state, we also wanted to express our gratitude on this occasion," the Afghan Foreign Minister stressed.
Atmar noted that Moscow and Kabul have common interests such as the fight against international terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking. "And here, of course, we could fight together against these threats," he pointed out.
According to him, Kabul is committed to strengthening relations with Moscow. "We would also like to open a completely new page in the relationship between our states," the Afghan Minister said.
For his part, Lavrov noted that Afghanistan is an important regional partner of Russia, which is "going through a difficult period in its history." "We expect to hear your assessments of the situation today and exchange views on how Russia, as a participant in the efforts to facilitate a settlement in Afghanistan, can continue to interact with all the key players," he addressed his Afghan counterpart.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS