MOSCOW. Aug 7 (Interfax-AVN) - NATO's new secretary general, Andres Fogh Rasmussen, said cooperation with Russia on Afghanistan, including transit, must be broadened.
"All this applies to Russia, perhaps even more so than for many allied countries. Stabilizing Afghanistan will mean less likelihood of the terrorist threat increasing, and fewer drugs reaching your southern borders," Rasmussen said in an exclusive interview with Interfax.
"That is why NATO and Russia have been gradually increasing the range of joint projects. Reaching agreements with Russia on transit arrangements to supply ISAF contingents with necessary provisions is part of the same logic," he said.
"I believe that broadening the scope of such transit arrangements would be helpful - and we could certainly envision more areas of cooperation as well," the NATO secretary general said.
"Afghanistan is an excellent example of shared interests. Stabilizing Afghanistan is a priority for the allies and international community," he went on to say.
"We must help the Afghans to secure a better future for their conflict-ridden country, which has suffered enormously over the last 30 years," Rasmussen said.
"We must ensure that the Taliban do not once again take power, with all the terrible consequences this would have for women and the whole of society. We must above all prevent the reemergence of Afghanistan as a gigantic terrorist camp, exporting extremists across the whole region and beyond," he said.