NATO should cooperate with the CSTO post-Soviet security bloc in efforts to combat Afghan drug trafficking, Russia's NATO envoy said on Wednesday at the international anti-drugs forum in Moscow.
"We are interested in cooperation between the CSTO and NATO. We do not understand those who say the CSTO represents only Russia's interests and can therefore have no contact with NATO," Dmitry Rogozin said. "Such ideological approaches do not match the threat coming from Afghanistan."
Russian and NATO approved earlier this year a military cooperation treaty in which Russia gave its support for the U.S.-led military operation in Afghanistan and agreed to military transit via Russian airspace.
Afghan drug production increased dramatically after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban in 2001. Russia, which has suffered a steep rise in heroin consumption, has been one of the countries most affected by the increase.
According to the Federal Drug Control Service, Afghan opium kills around 100,000 people around the world and around 30,000 Russians each year.
Nearly 200 experts, politicians and drug-control specialists from 40 countries are attending the anti-drugs forum in Moscow from June 9-10 to discuss ways of stopping the Afghan drug trade.
MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti)
