Russia favors durable normalization in Afghanistan - Putin
UFA. July 10 (Interfax) - Russia sees continuity in new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's policy and reaffirms that it is interested in long-term stabilization of the situation in the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"We know that you have been involved in international affairs and in determining Afghanistan's future for a long time," Putin said, addressing Ghani at their first meeting in Ufa on Friday.
"We are really glad that you are an experienced person, and we feel continuity in your work," Putin said.
"There have been different periods in the history of our relations, but the relationship between Afghanistan and Russia has been developing as undoubtedly friendly over the past decade," the Russian leader said.
"We have a common understanding of the need to combat terrorism, and we favor full normalization in Afghanistan and the emergence of preconditions for its consistent development," he said.
Talking on economic relations between the two countries, Putin pointed out that trade between them had grown significantly in 2014 but declined quite noticeably at the beginning of 2015. He proposed "analyzing the causes of this and planning further steps to develop our interaction."
Ghani said in response that, in the 1990s, he "observed that the economic situation in Russia was unstable, but now it has improved significantly."
"This encourages us. Considering that such a big country emerged from this situation, this gives us some confidence that we could also overcome economic difficulties," he said.
Afghanistan views Russia as "a strategic partner and a neighbor," Ghani said.
"Without consolidating efforts with Russia, we will be unable to bring about stabilization in the region," he said.
"Considering this, we count on cooperation with such economic giants as Russia, China, and India, including in combating terrorism and other troubles existing in the region. The dangers are the same for all of us," he said.
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