Lavrov to meet Muttaqi on sidelines of Moscow Format meeting — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi on the sidelines of the eighth Moscow Format meeting on Afghanistan next week, Russia’s Foreign Ministry says. Interfax, citing Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, reported that the meeting will be held in Moscow on October 5. Zakharova said special representatives and senior officials from Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia would attend the meeting. She said the Afghan delegation would be led by Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. According to Zakharova, Muttaqi and Lavrov will hold a separate meeting on the sidelines of the gathering to discuss important and current issues related to bilateral cooperation between Afghanistan and Russia. She said the Moscow Format meeting would focus on political and economic cooperation between regional countries and Afghanistan, counterterrorism efforts, and strengthening regional cooperation to prevent drug trafficking. A joint declaration is also expected to be adopted at the end of the meeting, she added.