Russia ready to continue supplying military equipment to Afghanistan - Lavrov

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/. Russia is prepared to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan in supplying and repairing military equipment, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference on Tuesday following talks with his Afghan counterpart, Salahuddin Rabbani. "The Russian side has confirmed its willingness to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan in supplying and repairing military equipment," the minister said. "We have the appropriate capabilities and the appropriate agreements. We will also help training national personnel of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, that applies to both military and civilian occupations." Referring to the outcomes of the talks, Russia’s top diplomats drew attention to the fact that the two sides "reiterated their mutual interest in further boosting cooperation in the political, military, technical, socio-economic and humanitarian spheres." "We paid particular attention to efforts to improve the contractual legal framework," he went on to say. "Work is underway on several inter-governmental agreements and inter-agency documents. We agreed to accelerate their approval. We agreed to continue contacts, including regular meetings of the Foreign Ministries’ employees at the level of deputy ministers, department directors as well as personal contacts." The Russian minister expressed gratitude to his Afghan counterpart for his invitation to pay a visit to Kabul. Lavrov also said that during the talks the two sides "agreed to seek additional opportunities for expanding Russian companies’ involvement in implementing projects on the restoration and development of Afghanistan’s infrastructure." Work on some of them is in progress, specifically, the Naglu hydroelectric power station, he added. Read more