"We are especially concerned by that fact that militants with parallel power structures control entire areas," Deputy Foreign Vladimir Yakovenko told a high level meeting on Afghanistan at the UN headquarters.
The meeting was attended by foreign policy chiefs from the United States and the EU, as well as representatives of the OSCE, NATO and the Arab League.
The Russian diplomat said the main source of financial support for extremism is the illegal drug business, which has demonstrated "explosive growth." The drug trade also affects Russia, as drug traffickers use it as a transit country.
He welcomed U.S. efforts to fight illicit drug operations in Afghanistan, in particular by helping those provinces that have cracked down on drug production.
Around 97% of the world's heroin comes from Afghanistan, and production has increased 20-fold since the Taliban was toppled by allied forces in December 2001.
Yakovenko said that a recent debt relief agreement with Afghanistan is Russia's contribution to the country's economic stabilization, adding that Moscow will also restore a hydroelectric power plant and modernize the Salang tunnel that links northern and southern Afghanistan.
In August, Russia wrote off around 90% of Afghanistan's Soviet-era debt, a sum totaling $11.1 billion, with the remainder to be repaid over 23 years.
The Afghan debt, which was largely accrued from the delivery of Soviet weaponry, will be paid off under the July 2006 agreements reached through the 19-nation Paris Club of creditors, of which Russia is a member.
More than two decades of conflict and political instability have left Afghanistan one of the poorest nations in the world.
In February, Russia and Afghanistan reached an agreement granting favorable terms to Russian firms seeking contracts to rebuild Afghanistan's rundown infrastructure, as well as for work in other commercial areas. In 2006, Russian-Afghan trade turnover was approximately $90 billion.
