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Russian, Pakistani foreign ministers discuss situation in Afghanistan

Both sides stressed the need to expand the multifaceted bilateral cooperation in the counterterrorism sphere and in the trade-economic sphere further

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Pakistani colleague Shah Mahmood Qureshi have discussed the development of the situation in Afghanistan on the sidelines of the SCO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Dushanbe.

"During the talks, they discussed the current regional and international issues, focusing on the situation in Afghanistan. Both sides stressed the need to expand the multifaceted bilateral cooperation further, namely in the counterterrorism sphere and in the trade-economic sphere," the Russian Foreign Ministry informed.

Clashes between the Afghan government forces and the Taliban intensified after US President Joe Biden’s decision to end the US operation in Afghanistan. As of July 13, the US has withdrawn over 95% of its forces. Afghan officials have repeatedly said that the Taliban movement is scaling up its offensive operations. At the same time, the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) stated that it had managed to establish control over 85% of the republic’s territory, including the areas bordering five countries - Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

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