Lavrov's warning about terrorists' Golan Heights in Central Asia

Criticizing NATO's policies in Eurasia, the Russian Foreign Minister warned about the attempt of terrorist groups to expand their activities from Afghanistan to Central Asia and Russia.

Ambassador of Arjan-International Group: Sergei Lavrov added today at the "Conference of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on Security Issues in Central Asia and Afghanistan" hosted by Moscow: Any country in the world, including Russia's partners in Central Asia, can become victims of Western policies.

He clarified: NATO is trying to involve Eurasia in its area of responsibility and claims that the entire territory of Eurasia is their area of responsibility.

The Russian Foreign Minister stated: They say they protect the territories of their member countries and threats against them are formed from the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and other areas outside the NATO territories.

He stated: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization intends to apply its will beyond its geographical area of responsibility.

In another part of his speech, referring to NATO's military intervention led by the United States and the occupation of Afghanistan, Lavrov said: "We try to be realistic, and in this regard, we understand that it will take a long time to overcome the sad legacy that the United States and other NATO countries have left after two decades of shameful occupation of Afghanistan."

He stated: We understand the difficulties of the Kabul government in socio-economic development due to the lack of Afghanistan's national financial reserves, which have practically been stolen by Western countries.

The Russian Foreign Minister said: In this regard, Moscow will continue to provide any possible economic and humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

Lavrov stated: Russia believes that the Taliban government is a reality that must be taken into account, and more countries around the world are now showing this understanding.

He stated: From a political point of view, we are focusing our efforts on consolidating foreign support for the Kabul authorities and those areas of their activities that objectively meet the interests of regional security.

Lavrov stated: Russia fully agrees with the view that Afghanistan should be an independent, united, peaceful country free from war and drugs.

He warned: Radical groups like the ISIS terrorist group want to use Afghanistan "as a springboard to transfer terrorist activities" to Central Asia and Russia.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia said: According to the available data, terrorist and extremist groups, including their training camps and bases, are still strongly present in the border areas of Afghanistan with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

He continued: The members of these groups are trying to penetrate the territory of Central Asian countries, including under the guise of refugees and even tourists.

He stated: Attempts are being made to smuggle weapons and drugs from Afghanistan to Central Asian countries and through them to Russia.

Lavrov said: Russia and its partners in Central Asia are providing a comprehensive response to the threat of arms and drug trafficking from Afghanistan, and we are cooperating with all Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan.

He continued: Kabul has reduced drug production by 90% since 2022, and these efforts are commendable.

In this meeting, Kazem Jalali, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Russia, will explain the positions of our country.

The lack of attention and irresponsibility of the occupiers to the internal situation of Afghanistan caused not only stability and security to prevail over this country, but social, political, ethnic and structural ruptures in Afghanistan intensified like a fire under the ashes.

During his trip to Kabul, the head of the Russian foreign intelligence service met with the intelligence chief of the Afghan government and discussed regional cooperation and countering terrorism.

The foreign ministers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the People's Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Russian Federation issued a joint statement in their third quadrilateral meeting on Afghanistan, identifying the United States and NATO as the main responsible for the current crisis in Afghanistan and demanding immediate measures to improve the security and humanitarian situation in this country.