Russia to give 200 million dollars to Afghan army : Official

Moscow, July 2 (UNI) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said here Moscow allocated 200 million dollars to the Afghan army and negotiations were going on to write off an 11 billion dollar debt.

Mr Grushko said, according to expert estimates, Afghanistan owed Russia 10 billion dollars for Soviet-era arms supplies.

He said the interests of Russia and NATO coincided in Afghanistan.

''We have established direct cooperation with NATO on the issue of transit, and have signed relevant agreements with Germany and France,'' RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as saying in an interview.

Mr Grushko added that Russia was ready to repair the Afghan economy, implement infrastructure projects, render necessary rear-area support and consider applications to equip the Afghan army.

He pointed out Russia was interested in reviving the Afghan economy as soon as possible in order to enable the country to be a safe partner in security.

''It is not in our interests that the Taliban reestablish control of the country, the more so since that would threaten other countries with instability,'' Mr Grushko noted.

Russia gave over 200 million dollars worth of assistance to Afghanistan's defence industry from 2002 to 2005.

In the view of increasing activity of the Taliban, al Qaeda and other extremists, the Afghan authorities recently asked Russia to resume aid programmes suspended in 2005.

Mr Grushko also said Russia had urged NATO to launch a more active fight against Afghan drugs.

UNI