Russian Foreign Minister Stresses Necessity To Prevent New Civil War In Afghanistan

Igor Ivanov, the Russian Foreign Minister, has stated the necessity "to prevent the new civil war in Afghanistan." Talking to journalists in New York, the Russian Foreign Minister stressed that such danger really existed. According to him, "much depends on the level of coordination of future actions of the international community." The Minister believes that the prevention of disagreements within the international community was much more important than the Afghanistan's internal contradictions, which were "natural and real." If such disagreements occur, "it will be really difficult to avoid negative development of the situation in Afghanistan." The Russian Minister said that the Afghanistan's future depended on external aid. "Without it, the completion of all present tasks, both humanitarian and economic, will be very difficult to solve at the present stage," he said. The Minister also noted that Russia had supported the military actions targeted at destruction of the Taliban war machine and terrorist organisations based in Afghanistan. At the same time, he stressed, the Russian side had stated and would state it again that political solution was the only possible way to achieve the final settlement of the Afghan crisis.