Dushanbe: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the fate of Afghanistan and surrounding nations should be decided by regional powers, an apparent call for reduced US engagement.
Medvedev told his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on Friday that Russia would pursue a broad platform of support to Afghanistan, including economic and security assistance.
The remarks appear to mark a new effort by Moscow to make strategic and economic inroads in Afghanistan at the expense of the United States, whose relations with the Karzai administration have become strained.
The leaders met at a four-nation summit in the capital of Tajikistan that also included Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon and Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, whose countries both share porous borders with Afghanistan.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, September 02, 2011, 16:01