Russia will soon send another batch of humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday at a meeting on Afghanistan in the Moscow format.
"For our part, in the next few days we plan to send another batch of humanitarian aid to the friendly Afghan people," he said.
Lavrov also noted that Russia expects that representatives of the Afghan delegation at the consultations in the Moscow format "will share first-hand information, as they say," about the current situation in the humanitarian sphere.
According to Lavrov, Moscow is convinced that the time has come for mobilizing the resources of the international community for providing Kabul with effective financial, economic and humanitarian aid, including preventing a humanitarian crisis.
UN role
The minister added that the United Nations should play a key role in providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
"We are convinced that the time has come to mobilize the resources of the global community to provide Kabul with effective financial, economic and humanitarian assistance, including to avert a humanitarian crisis and to stem migration flows," he said.
"We are convinced that the United Nations should play a central coordinating role in consolidating international efforts in Afghanistan. We hope that the collective appeal made public at today's meeting of the countries participating in the Moscow format to the leaders and all UN members will be heard and that we will receive a positive response in the foreseeable future," Lavrov added.
According to him, Moscow expects responsible behavior toward Afghan citizens on the part of Western countries, whose presence in Afghanistan has led to a difficult situation in the country. "The West not only provides humanitarian aid in its traditional form but also helps to pay salaries to socially important categories of citizens, such as doctors and teachers," he explained.
Reports about the deteriorating living conditions of ordinary Afghans are very alarming, the minister noted. "Experts do not rule out a worsening of the humanitarian situation due to the inability of a large part of the Afghan population to provide themselves with a balanced meal," Lavrov said. Moscow expects the Afghan delegation to report on the current humanitarian situation in Afghanistan during the talks, he added.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS