Lavrov: Central Asia creates conditions for coordinated assistance to Afghanistan
Speaking today at the international conference on Afghanistan "Peace Process, Security Cooperation and Regional Cooperation" in Tashkent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that in recent years the relations between the Central Asian "five" (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) are demonstrating positive dynamics. Thus, conditions are created not only to solve intra-regional issues, but also to provide co-ordinated assistance to Afghanistan in launching the process of national reconciliation, the minister said. "We highly appreciate the achieved level of coordination with the states of Central Asia on Afghan issues," TASS quoted Lavrov. The conference is being held with the participation of the President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, and high-ranking representatives of almost two dozen states and organizations.
