Afghanistan Times
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AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: Russian President’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Director of the 2nd Asia Department of the Russian Foreign Minister Zamir Kabulov said on Tuesday that his country would deliver a batch of small arms for Afghan police in January.
He believes that arms supplies from Russia was a significant factor contributing to normalizing the situation in Afghanistan.
“At present, Russian agencies consider a number of corresponding request from the Afghan side,” he said. “In particular, the supply of 10,000 AK-47 [assault rifles] with rounds to them through the Russian Interior Ministry,” he told TASS, a Russian news agency.
He added that currently talks are underway on the commercial supplies of Russian helicopter parts to Afghanistan. Afghanistan is expecting to receive the batch of arms in January 2016.
“Russia consistently pursing the policy of providing comprehensive assistance to Afghanistan in the establishment of a peaceful, independent, stable and self-sufficient state, free from terrorism and drugs,” Kabulov said.
“We are ready to flexibly approach the issues related to the possible weakening of the sanctions regime according to the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1988 against the Taliban, if it is not contrary to the national interests of Afghanistan,” he said.
Last week, Kabulov said that Moscow was dramatically changing its position on the Taliban in Afghanistan. From now on, they are not an enemy for Russia any more. Moreover, they even become Moscow’s partners in a sense. “The interests of the Taliban in the fight against the Islamic State (aka Daesh) in Afghanistan are in line with Russian objectives,” he said.
“Russia makes an important contribution to the normalization of the situation in Afghanistan by training in Russian universities and specialized educational institutions of the national staff for the government agencies police, anti-drug and military agencies of Afghanistan,” he said.
