Afghan President asks for help from old enemy
Russia agreed to support Afghan's security and stability, in spite of past hatreds
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has sat down with Russian President Medvedev at the Russian president's summer residence near the Black Sea to talk about help for Afghanistan.
Two decades after Moscow ended a disastrous conflict in Afghanistan, the two men submitted their ideas for the future of the nation.
The meeting was welcomed by the Russian president who told Mr Karzai his country would assist in Afghanistan’s security and its war on drugs.
After the meeting, Karzai said to Mr Medvedev: "Let me once thank you for your concern for Afghanistan. Afghanistan will need the support of friends and from great countries like Russia."
Karzai invited Medvedev to visit Afghanistan soon and received a positive response, with Mr Medvedev saying that Russia would support Afghanistan's efforts to establish peace and stability.
He said: "Russia naturally supports the Afghan government's fight against terrorism, and is ready to help in any way."
Medvedev said trafficking in Afghan drugs had reached a shocking level and was fuelling a drug abuse problem in Russia.
He said actions in fighting the drug menace would need to be synchronized between the two countries and others in the region.
Russia has recently criticized the US and NATO strategy for fighting Afghan drug production.
NATO earlier this year rejected Russian calls for the eradication of Afghan opium poppy fields, saying Moscow should instead help control the drug menace by giving more help to the Afghan government.
Russia has said it will not send soldiers to Afghanistan, where the Soviet Union fought a nearly decade-long war which cost the lives of about 15,000 Soviet troops.
Source: Europe News.Net
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