Vladimir Semashko: A political solution to the Afghan issue that concerns the CSTO is to be reached through inter-Afghan dialogue

The CSTO needs to urgently take concrete measures to neutralize threats emanating from Afghanistan, said Vladimir Semashko, Ambassador of Belarus to Russia, in his interview with RIA Novosti.
“A political solution to this issue that concerns not only the CSTO is to be reached through inter-Afghan dialogue,” he added.
The ambassador noted that the situation in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the US troops is one of the priority topics at the CSTO.
“The conclusions voiced are not optimistic: withdrawal of foreign troops from the country’s territory will promote further deterioration of the situation and can give an additional impulse for transferring the terrorist activity to the Central Asian states and, frankly speaking, closer to Russia. As a matter of fact, this is what we are witnessing now,” Mr Semashko said.
Vladimir Semashko believes that, “given the current situation and the forecasts, the CSTO needs to urgently take concrete measures to neutralize threats emanating from the Afghan territory.”
Earlier, the Republic of Tajikistan asked for help from the CSTO.
As you may recall, the press service of the CSTO Joint Staff reported that a special group headed by Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov, Head of the CSTO Joint Staff, has been sent to the Republic of Tajikistan and held several working meetings with the leadership of the Ministry of Defence, EMERCOM and the National Security Committee of the Republic of Tajikistan.
On July 8, the group was briefed on the ground on the procedure for the protection of the Tajik-Afghan border by the military personnel of the Border Troops of the Republic of Tajikistan and on the units’ personnel, armaments and special equipment. It also studied the procedure for interaction with the units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan deployed for the reinforcement of state border protection.
The visit to a section of the Tajik-Afghan border enabled the group to assess objectively the state of affairs on the ground and facilitated the formulation of proposals to reduce tension at the Tajik-Afghan border and the preparation of proposals for joint measures within the CSTO framework.