Russia Sees Targeted Attempts to Undermine Situation in Asia, Foreign Minister Lavrov Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia sees targeted attempts to undermine the security situation in Asia, as narrow-format alliances and military blocs stick to a policy of containment, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, the regional geopolitical situation is not getting easier, which hinders transition to a framework of comprehensive multilateral cooperation and integration. We see targeted attempts to 'heat up' the situation and undermine the existing mechanisms of interstate interaction. Narrow-format structures of exclusive composition and military blocs sticking to Cold War logic and containment policy are making their contribution", Lavrov said at a ministerial meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

The diplomat noted that after its withdrawal from Afghanistan, NATO seeks to redeploy forces to Central, South, and Southeast Asia and to direct flows of Afghan refugees there.

"The alliance is evading the question of NATO's responsibility for the consequences of its 20-year experiments. The international community, first and foremost Afghanistan's neighbours, are offered to solve the problems", Lavrov said

He also stressed that weapons left in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO troops must not be used for destructive purposes, reiterating that the Taliban* should fulfill their promise to prevent instability in the country.

Taliban forces stand guard in front of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan

© REUTERS / STRINGER

"The Taliban have stated that they intend to fight drug trafficking and terrorism, not to channel instability to neighbouring countries, and to achieve the creation of an inclusive government. The main thing is to make sure all these promises are kept", the minister stated.

The Taliban seized control over Kabul on 15 August, amid the ongoing US withdrawal from the country, and the last province to resist the group, Panjshir, surrendered on 6 September. After that, the movement announced the composition of an all-male interim cabinet, headed by Mohammad Hasan Akhund, a former foreign minister during the previous Taliban rule, who has been under UN sanctions since 2001.

*The Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other countries