OREANDA-NEWS. May 25, 2010. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, received on May 24 the UN Secretary General's Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura.

There was a lively exchange of views on issues of Afghan settlement. Ways of strengthening the UN leading role in international civilian efforts to ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan were discussed – including in the context of the upcoming Peace Jirga in early June and the international high-level conference on Afghanistan scheduled for July in Kabul.

The Russian side reaffirmed its support for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, and noted the need for thorough deliberation of all the parameters of the national reconciliation process being launched in Afghanistan with regard for the relevant UN Security Council decisions and the provisions of the communique of the International Conference on Afghanistan held in London on January 28, 2010, as well as the UNSC sanctions regime against individuals and entities suspected of associating with Al-Qaida and/or the Taliban.

Questions of the struggle against illegal production and trafficking of Afghan drugs were substantively discussed, which Sergey Lavrov described as a threat to international peace and security.

The parties also considered the regional aspects of the facilitation of the normalization of the situation in Afghanistan with emphasis on the importance of harnessing the potential of regional organizations concerned.