Russia-Central Asia summit to be held in October in Tajikistan

MOSCOW

The upcoming Russia-Central Asia summit is scheduled for October and will be held on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press briefing in Samarkand, Lavrov said the meeting will be devoted to coordinating efforts aimed at developing cooperation in all areas.

He said Moscow is closely observing Western efforts "to assert dominance in Central Asia and other strategic regions."

“We firmly oppose the politicization of cooperation and the imposition of ideological agendas, particularly efforts by certain Western countries to dominate this and other geopolitical spaces,” Lavrov added.

He also criticized the West's renewed engagement in Afghanistan, a country from which NATO forces withdrew following the Taliban’s rise to power again in 2021.

Lavrov said that Western nations, through the UN Secretariat, have initiated a new consultation format in Doha.

“The objective is clear -- Western countries are uneasy that, until the launch of the Doha format, external support for Afghan processes had been primarily led by regional actors,” he said.

Emphasizing that Russia does not oppose Western presence in Central Asia, Lavrov warned against actions that Moscow deems unacceptable.

“It is entirely unacceptable, and such attempts do exist, to reintroduce NATO military infrastructure into Afghanistan under various pretexts. These efforts risk laying a new time bomb, and perhaps not even a slow one,” he warned.

Lavrov also affirmed that Russia has maintained continuous engagement in Afghanistan. He added that suspending the decision to list the Taliban as a terrorist organization is a necessary step to facilitate pragmatic cooperation with the new authorities in Kabul.

“The reality is that the Taliban currently hold power in Kabul. If our policies are to be pragmatic rather than ideological, we must acknowledge and engage with that reality,” Lavrov said.