Italy evacuates all its citizens, over 4,900 Afghans from Afghanistan

MOSCOW

Italy has evacuated all its citizens and about 4,900 Afghan nationals from Afghanistan who wanted to leave the country, the Italian foreign minister said on Friday.

The last evacuation flight with Italian Consul Tommaso Claudio and NATO Civil Evacuation Coordinator Stefano Pontecorvo will depart for Italy later today, Luigi Di Maio told a news conference in Rome, following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

The minister added that he discussed with Lavrov the situation in Afghanistan, including Italy's suggestion to hold an extraordinary meeting of the G20, currently presided by Italy.

“At this delicate moment (in Afghanistan), it is extremely important for the international community to work in close coordination. And in this context, Russia plays a key role,” he said.

Maio added that Italy is already working on a plan to support Afghanistan, prioritizing five areas in the Afghan settlement: protection of the civilian population, countering terrorism, ensuring respect for human rights, providing humanitarian assistance, and resolving the migration crisis.

Lavrov said Moscow is examining Rome's suggestion about the G20 meeting.

He pointed out that the countries having strong influence on the Afghan sides – Iran and Pakistan – are not members of the G20 as well as five Central Asian neighbors of Afghanistan – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

He said Russia's list of priorities is different from the Italian one, adding the main thing for Moscow is to fight terrorism and to ensure the security of its allies having “direct, and open borders with Afghanistan."

“Afghanistan, for obvious reasons, has occupied a significant place in our discussions. We condemn terrorist acts and express our condolences to the families of the victims. Of course, we see in this an additional need to accelerate assistance to the Afghans so that they form an inclusive transitional government with the participation of all the main political forces of this country without further delay," Lavrov said.

Lavrov added that Russia is ready to cooperate with all countries to normalize the situation in Afghanistan.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan after taking Kabul on Aug. 15, forcing President Ashraf Ghani and other top officials to leave the country.