Afghanistan-Russia relations strengthening daily, Muttaqi tells Kabulov

Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a meeting with the special envoy of Russia for Afghanistan on Wednesday that relations between Kabul and Moscow are strengthening by the day and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is grateful to Moscow for supporting Afghanistan in international forums.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Muttaqi stressed that trade relations between Afghanistan and Russia should be expanded.

He said that Afghanistan is ready to play a positive role in the transit of Russian goods to South Asia after the reconstruction of Salang Highway.

According to the statement, Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, said that some countries want to advance their own agenda in the region by creating new mechanisms.

Kabulov said that nothing should be done without the approval of the Afghan government.

He said, if any country has a problem with Afghanistan, it can discuss it bilaterally with the government of Afghanistan.

The envoy said that some countries see that the regional countries are expanding cooperation with the Afghan government, and they want to intervene in the issues of the region with new mechanisms and create hurdles for progress.

The Russian diplomat also emphasized that the United States should release the frozen assets of Afghanistan and allow these reserves to help Afghanistan’s economy.