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Developments in Afghanistan

Russia should prevent Afghani militants from entering its territory — Putin

The President reiterated that Russia does not need "such elements [militants] on its territory, neither from Afghanistan, nor from any other country

MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/. Russia should not let militants from Afghanistan disguised as refugees enter its territory, President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday.

The head of state added that the Russian authorities would contacts the Western states to do their best to ensure stability in Afghanistan.

"We don’t want militants under the disguise of refugees to appear here [in Russia] again. We will do everything, in particular in contact with our Western partners, to ensure stability in Afghanistan as well. But we do not want us to at least somehow repeat the situation of the 1990s and early 2000s. At that time, we were actually fighting in the North Caucasus. These horrors we see on the territory of Afghanistan now, we saw on our territory not so long ago. Now everything is stable and quiet. There are still some problems, but this is not comparable to what happened before," Putin said on Sunday at a meeting with representatives of the United Russia party.

The President reiterated that Russia does not need "such elements [militants] on its territory, neither from Afghanistan, nor from any other country.

"Why are we dealing with Syria? In order to prevent Syria from turning into some kind of Afghanistan, from turning into a hotbed of terrorism," the head of state explained.

He added that he very much hopes that the Russian Foreign Ministry, with the support of the parties represented in parliament, will continue to responsibly deal with issues of national security. Putin expressed gratitude to the United Russia and all parties in parliament that "make decisions about national security.".

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