Russian, Afghan and Pakistan presidents meet ahead of summit

SOCHI, RUSSIA // The Russian president Dmitry Medvedev today hosted bilateral meetings with Afghan president, Hamad Karzai and Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari ahead of a summit on Wednesday aimed at co-ordinating efforts to improve security in Afghanistan. "Let me once again thank you for your concern for Afghanistan," Mr Karzai told Mr Medvedev in their bilateral meeting. "Afghanistan will need the support of friends and great countries like Russia."

Mr Medvedev said Russia backed the Afghan government's fight against Taliban insurgents and also emphasised that Russia was prepared to develop economic relations with Afghanistan. "We live in the same region - this creates common problems and common prospects," he said. The three countries all have a troubled history of relations but Russia will want the summit to show it is playing a constructive role in improving security in a region where historically it has had a major influence.

Russia, still haunted by the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan which cost over 13,000 Soviet lives and ended in a humiliating pullout in 1989, has kept a wary distance from the troubles of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in the country. Also taking part will be Tajikistan's president Emomali Rakhmon, whose country borders Afghanistan. But the key aspect of the meeting is a rare bilateral encounter between Mr Zardari and Mr Karzai, whose country has consistently accused Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency of supporting Taliban insurgents.

Pakistan has reacted furiously to the allegations, particularly after Mr Karzai declared in July that "this war is in the sanctuaries, funding centres and training places of terrorism which are outside Afghanistan." Mr Karzai's spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that Mr Karzai and Mr Zardari met earlier in the day, saying more details would be given later. Mr Medvedev's foreign policy advisor Sergei Prikhodko said ahead of the meeting that Russia would be interested in delivering helicopters to Afghanistan.

"The question of the delivery of Russian helicopters will be discussed, if it is raised by the Afghan side," he added, the Interfax news agency said, adding that Afghanistan required 100 additional helicopters. * AFP