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Russian, Uzbek top diplomats express concern over degradation of situation in Afghanistan

The security situation in Afghanistan has seriously degraded since April, when US President Joe Biden announced plans to withdraw US troops from that country

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. Russian and Uzbek Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Abdulaziz Kamilov, discussed the situation in Afghanistan and expressed concern over its degradation, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday after their telephone conversation.

"The sides exchanged views on the current regional and international topics. They expressed concern over the degradation of the situation in Afghanistan. The ministers also discussed additional measures to enhance stability and security in Central Asia," it said.

The ministers hailed the high level of Russian-Uzbek cooperation and discussed issues of the preparations for upcoming joint events, including a ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Dushanbe on July 13-14 and a high-level conference "Central and Southern Asia: Regional Relations. Challenges and Possibilities" in Tashkent on July 15-16.

The security situation in Afghanistan has seriously degraded since April when US President Joe Biden announced plans to withdraw US troops from that country. By July 6, more than 90% of US forces were pulled out of Afghanistan. Other NATO countries are also withdrawing their contingents from the country. Meanwhile, the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) is expanding its offensive, having seized control of dozens of provinces. According to local media, the Taliban controls a number of checkpoints at the borders with Tajikistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Kabul is planning a large-sale counteroffensive against the Taliban.

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