MINSK. May 25 (Interfax) - The United States seeks to use the potential of illegal armed groups in Afghanistan to destabilize the region, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Minsk on Thursday.
"Afghanistan remains another hotbed of instability. The principal threat is coming from illegal armed groups, which have considerably strengthened their positions in this country after the Islamic Taliban Movement [terrorist organization banned in Russia] came to power. We believe that the United States seeks to use the potential of these terrorist networks in order to destabilize the region," Shoigu said.
"The migration of fighters from controlled gangs from the Middle East to Afghanistan has been organized for that purpose," he said.
"Later on, they may infiltrate neighboring countries, in particular, to commit terrorist attacks," Shoigu said.
"In these conditions, we believe it's important to coordinate efforts on the Afghan track and give due attention to joint exercises in bilateral and multilateral formats," he said.
"Instead of working on Afghanistan's recovery after their hasty withdrawal, NATO members are trying to regain military presence in the Central Asian region by various methods. We view that as a direct threat to stability there and the CSTO space as a whole," Shoigu said.