Russian, Tajik Leaders To Discuss Military Cooperation, Afghanistan Situation

Russian and Tajik presidents Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rahmon will meet in Leningrad on Tuesday, December 24.

Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian president, said that the meeting will discuss technical-military cooperation and the situation in Afghanistan.

Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency on Monday, December 23, quoted Yuri Ushakov as saying that the issue of migration, the development of political, trade, economic and cultural relations are other topics of discussion between the leaders of Russia and Tajikistan.

The meeting comes as Tajikistan will hold the presidency of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) from January 2025. The presidency of this union in 2024 was held by Russia.

The CIS secretary-general announced in November this year that the bloc supports the plan to create a security belt around Afghanistan. Sergey Lebedev expressed hope that the plan will lead to a reduction in the activity of terrorist groups in the region.

The plan to create a security belt around Afghanistan was first proposed by Emomali Rahmon in October 2022 at the extraordinary meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

At the time, he stressed that in order to prevent dangers, it was necessary to create a security belt around Afghanistan.

Although some countries in the region have economic and diplomatic relations with the Taliban, none of them recognise the Taliban and are still concerned about the spread of extremism.