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Afghanistan should not fall prey to geopolitical games, says Lavrov

Geopolitical games that may result in another transformation of Afghanistan into a field for competition, the Russian minister stressed

MOSCOW, November 9. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called for not using Afghanistan for geopolitical games and stressed the importance of preserving territorial integrity of this Islamic republic.

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"Russia supports the preservation of a united and indivisible Afghanistan in which all ethnic groups populating the country could live peacefully and happily. I have no doubts that the other participants of the Moscow format share this approach and that we all go by basic national interests of the Afghan people," the Russian foreign minister said in his speech at the opening of the second session of the Moscow-based consultations on Afghanistan on Friday.

"No one should think in terms of geopolitical games that may result in another transformation of Afghanistan into a field for competition between external players with drastic consequences both for the Afghans and their neighbors," the minister stressed.

The second session of the Moscow-based consultations between deputy foreign ministers and relevant special representatives is attended for the first time by a delegation of the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia). An employee from the US Embassy in Moscow will also take part in the negotiations as an observer.

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