Lavrov admitted that "the state debt of Afghanistan inherited /by Russia/ from the Soviet Union is a serious obstacle for our direct financial assistance to the transitional Afghan administration." "Russia is trying to settle the problem on the terms most favourable for Afghanistan, which would make it possible to convert the restructured debt into investments," Lavrov stressed.
In his words, this would create conditions for direct economic assistance /to Afghanistan/ and the crediting of joint Russian-Afghan projects from the Russian Federation's budget.
Lavrov recalled that Russia had not assumed any obligations to help that country at the Tokyo donors' conference on Afghanistan.
"Nevertheless, we have given versatile assistance to Afghanistan over the past period. This assistance amounts to more than $170 million," Lavrov said in conclusion.
