The 8th Moscow Format consultation on Afghanistan began in Moscow on Monday, with representatives and senior officials from Afghanistan, Russia, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan participating. Delegations from Belarus and Egypt are attending as guests.
Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi is leading the Afghan delegation at the meeting.
Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported that Lavrov told the meeting: “I want to once again stress the unacceptability of deploying NATO military infrastructure on Afghan soil.”
He added that such a move, regardless of the name or justification, was unacceptable to Russia.
Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, also said in May this year that the deployment of NATO military infrastructure in Afghanistan was unacceptable.
Vedomosti also quoted Lavrov as saying that the IEA controls the entire country and is successfully running it.
The Russian foreign minister added that IEA forces were successfully fighting Daesh and other armed groups.
Lavrov also said that, according to United Nations reports, opium production in Afghanistan had declined by 90 percent since 2022.
He further said that despite sanctions and the freezing of Afghan assets by Western countries on the pretext of supporting human rights, Afghanistan’s economy was growing.