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Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (R) meets with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Rome, Italy, August 27, 2021. /Xinhua
Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the Group of 20, continued to push for a special G20 meeting on Afghanistan as its last evacuation flight left Kabul on Friday.
The military C-130 plane was expected to land in Rome early on Saturday, bringing back "all the Italians who asked to be repatriated," Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said.
He confirmed that some 4,900 Afghan nationals who wanted to leave their country had been evacuated by Italian forces during the operation.
At a joint press conference in Rome on Friday after meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Di Maio reiterated his country's plan to hold an extraordinary G20 summit on Afghanistan in September to outline a global strategy.
"Afghanistan has been at the core of our talks today... in this context, we see the dialogue with Russia as essential," Di Maio explained.
He added that Italy's push to organize a special G20 meeting on Afghanistan stemmed from the belief that only "a comprehensive, coherent and shared action can be effective with the new authorities in Kabul."
"We believe Moscow is a key player in dealing with the current crisis and, in a longer perspective, in achieving a unified international approach," he noted.
"We deem that the G20 could be the right platform for a common management of the crisis, which has to be shared with the countries that will bear the largest migrant influx, that is the neighboring countries."
Neighbors concerned over border security
Lavrov, who paid a two-day visit to Italy, said that the security of Afghanistan's neighbors should be a key priority after all evacuation operations have been completed.
He also called for speeding up support for the Afghan people in order to facilitate the formation of an inclusive executive as soon as possible.
"Common solutions are never easy and, in our opinion, the most important thing in the current situation is the security of our borders," said Lavrov, who also discussed the issue with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi earlier in the day.
Russia is ready to discuss the proposal of the G20 special summit, but "we want to better understand what role our Western partners would see for Russia in the G20 context," Lavrov said.
He recalled that Russia has kept open a dialogue with the Taliban leaders, together with China and Pakistan, and asked for the possible G20 summit on Afghanistan to be open to countries that are not members of the group but nonetheless directly affected by the Afghan crisis, such as Pakistan and Iran.
EU condemns 'barbaric' attack
Meanwhile, reactions from EU leaders poured in after a suicide bomb attack rocked Kabul airport on Thursday, killing at least 103 people, including 13 U.S. service members, and injuring 158 others.
Condemning "the cowardly and inhuman attacks," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter that: "The international community must work closely together to avoid a resurgence of terrorism in Afghanistan and beyond."
European Council President Charles Michel said his thoughts were with the victims and their families. "Securing safe passage to the airport remains vital. We need to ensure the current instability cannot give rise to a resurgence of terrorism," he tweeted.
Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union (EU) for foreign affairs and security policy, tweeted: "The EU stands in solidarity with the Afghan citizens. We will continue fighting terrorism together with international partners."
Live updates: Evacuations resume after deadly Kabul airport attacks
Source(s): Xinhua News Agency
