No Decision to Send Russian Peacekeepers to Afghanistan: FM

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 12, 2001

No Decision to Send Russian Peacekeepers to Afghanistan: FM

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov restated here Tuesday that Russia was not ready to take part in the peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov restated here Tuesday that Russia was not ready to take part in the peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan.

The minister said Russia did have special units in Afghanistan, but their mission was to protect Russian citizens who are rendering humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.

The recent Boon conference on Afghanistan's post-war government has asked the U.N. to dispatch an international peacekeeping contingent to Afghanistan to ensure the security in the country.

The issue will soon be discussed in the U.N. Security Council, as several countries had already given consent to sending out their peacekeeping soldiers.

Ivanov's envoy to Afghanistan Alexander Oblov also ruled out the possibility of sending any Russian troop to Afghanistan, but spoken of other forms of military cooperation between Moscow and Kabul after the war.

"Not a single Russian soldier will be sent to Afghanistan," said Oblov in a statement published in Tuesday's Izvestia newspaper.

However, "the return of Russian military advisers to Afghanistan" is possible, and Russia might help train Afghan military officers after the war is over, he said.

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