MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has urged the prospective Afghan president to mind regional stability interests in deciding on the presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 2014.
"As to the security cooperation agreement between Afghanistan and the United States, we believe that the new president of Afghanistan will make a decision proceeding from the interests of the Afghan people and regional security considerations," Lavrov said at the Moscow international security conference on Friday.
The security agreement lays the legal groundwork for the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan after the international coalition withdrawal in late 2014.
Outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai has bluntly refused to sign the deal with the United States. Reportedly, practically every Afghan presidential candidate supports this agreement.
Russia has repeatedly said it has questions about the U.S. plans to keep military bases in Afghanistan after 2014.
Afghanistan will hold the second round of presidential elections on June 14 between former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.