MOSCOW (TASS): Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaking at the XVII Meeting of heads of security agencies and intelligence services of CIS countries, stated the need to block supply channels of military products to terrorists in Afghanistan.
“It’s necessary to prevent any further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country resulting in the increasing migrant influx in Central Asian direction. We share the concerns that under the guise of refugees, terrorists and other radical elements can infiltrate the country via the southern borders. It’s necessary to promptly block the supply channels of all variety of military products,” he said.
The minister emphasized the importance of reinforcing cooperation within the CIS, CSTO and SCO. “Re-cently our leaders discussed this in detail at the Septe-mber summits in Dusha-nbe,” the top diplomat add-ed.
The proposals for security cooperation with Central Asian countries and the potential costs associated with it, put forward by Western nations, need to be carefully analyzed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
The top diplomat emphasized that currently, several Western states are proposing that Central Asian countries establish bilateral cooperation in the security sphere since it could help overcome the consequences of the transformation in the military-political situation. “Each country certainly has the right to an independent foreign policy in line with its national interests. However, the real benefits of such proposals and the potential costs associated with them, including for regional stability, always require thorough analysis,” Lavrov pointed out.
“I believe the optimal approach would be to carry out such an analysis according to the existing regional mechanisms,” the Russian foreign minister emphasized. “It is also necessary to combine these initiatives with the already existing programs, which are being implemented by the CIS,” Lavrov concluded.
Russia is concerned with the continual brazen interference of the United States and the European Union in the internal affairs of Bela-rus, Lavrov said.
“We are deeply concerned with the attempts of Washington and the European Union to brazenly interfere in the internal affairs of Belarus,” the Russian minister said at the opening of the 17th session of the meeting of the heads of the security and intelligence services from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
“They continue exerting political pressure as well as sanctions pressure on the authorities in Minsk and completely ignore at the same time efforts to consolidate the society and hold Constitutional reform,” Lavrov continued.
“EU’s recent steps reveal the authentic targets, which served for the formation of the so-called Eastern Partnership, and they speak at the same time about the price, which must be paid for good relations with the West,” he added.
The ‘Eastern Partner-ship’ is a joint initiative of the EU, its member states and six Eastern European partners: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. In June 2021, Minsk announced the suspension of its participation over the sanctions imposed by the EU and the suspension of European programs aimed at the development of cooperation with the republic.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov noted that only the people of Belarus and their legal representatives “have the right to define the future of their country within the framework of the current national legislation.”
