Saturday, 28 March 2009
Russia hosted a conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security organization consisting of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Russia has said it is ready to increase co-operation with the NATO military alliance over its war in Afghanistan. On the other hand the calls for a greater regional role came hours before President Barack Obama ordered 4,000 more U.S. troops into Afghanistan and European Union nations promised to send more police trainers and cash.
Medvedev was quoted as saying "For its part, Russia is ready for active joint steps aimed at normalizing the situation in the country and ensuring its peaceful and creative development".
The organization issued an "action plan" vowing to increase efforts to fight drugs, terrorism and organized crime emanating from Afghanistan. As for repairing Afghanistan's economy Medvedev said "In our view, here Afghanistan needs help and support like never before...Russia is ready for active, joint steps aimed at stabilizing the situation in this country and securing its peace and progress." According to Medvedev, the key challenges in Afghanistan are the fight against terrorism, illicit drug trafficking and transnational crime.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, told an international conference on Afghanistan in Moscow on Friday that his country was "ready to examine other kinds of constructive co-operation'. "Afghan drug traffic has become a most serious threat to the security of Russia and countries of Central Asia. The efforts being taken to fight this evil so far are insufficient," Lavrov said. He also stressed the need for the U.S. and NATO to reduce civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, the European Union, the United States, and China, as well as other regional states, joined Russia in calling for "sustained international support" for the effort in Afghanistan.Participants said they wanted "to strengthen Afghan security institutions to effectively combat the scourge of terrorism and production and trafficking of narcotics".
USAK Russia & Black Sea expert Habibe Ozdal pointed out that despite its offer to help NATO in Afghanistan; Russia is prudent on the US military's presence in the region since it considers the region as a part of its sphere of influence. To bear in mind last month, Kyrgyzstan ordered the US to vacate a military base which can be said was very important in terms of supporting Washington's operations in Afghanistan. Thus, evaluating hosting this conference as a sign of the Kremlin's desire to expand its role in the region is not baseless.
