Tajikistan not to deploy Russian soldiers to guard its border with Afghanistan

By Bahtiyar Abdulkerimov

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AA) - Tajikistan announced Tuesday that it does not need deployment of Russian soldiers to guard its border with Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin told reporters that the situation on the border has seriously deteriorated recently and the borders are well-protected.

"The issue of deploying Russian border guards on the Tajik-Afghan border is not considered," he said.

Emphasizing that the Tajik side does not negotiate with Russia on the assignment of border guards to protect the border, Muhriddin said, "We do not plan to increase the number of Russian border guards in Dushanbe due to the tensions on the Afghan border."

Muhriddin also said his country does not hold talks with the Taliban.

"Dushanbe has always considered Kabul the legitimate government in Afghanistan and never held meetings or negotiations with representatives of the Taliban movement."

He added that the issue of accepting Afghan citizens "who helped the US" is not on the agenda.

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev from Ankara