The situation in Afghanistan ‘is drastically deteriorating,’ warned the Russian Foreign Minister during his speech at the International Conference on Central and South Asia, which began yesterday and ends this Friday in Tashkent. Lavrov said such threat makes it impossible to involve Afghanistan in regional cooperation, Sputnik news agency said.

However, he assured Moscow’s interest in contributing to arrange new talks between parties in order to achieve peace in the country.

The Russian Foreign Minister reported that Moscow is examining with its partners the possibility of expanding negotiation forms.

Kremlin reiterated more than once its concern about the escalation of the conflict, although warning was it will not interfere in affairs of that Central Asian nation as long as confrontation continues within its border.

On the subject, Lavrov said last week that as long as events do not overwhelm the country, ‘we are not going to take any action.’

The head of Russian diplomacy emphasized that Moscow will continue to repeat its ‘persistent calls for the political process, which all Afghans supported with words, to take place as soon as possible.’

To reassure the Kremlin, a delegation from the Taliban visited this capital on July 9, meeting with the special representative of the Russian president for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, they assured they will not violate the borders of other Central Asian countries.

About the meeting, the spokesman for the political office of the Taliban in Qatar, Sohail Shaheen, told the press that they confirmed to the Russian side ‘that we do not represent any threat to other countries.’

pgh/lcp