Russia’s media has reported that Russian and US representatives for Afghanistan have met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and discussed ways to cooperate over Afghanistan.

US special acting representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Alice Wells met 

with Zamir Kabulov, who reportedly told her that Russia is ready to cooperate with the US in Afghanistan if the US lifts sanctions against Russia. 

“Alice Wells said Washington is interested to cooperate with us in Afghanistan, while she knows there is little chance of this. Wells knows about the sanctions, but the sanctions were approved by the US. If you want us to work together, you should lift the sanctions,” said Kabulov.

Meanwhile the Afghan government has said it welcomes US and Russia cooperation and coordination over Afghanistan. 

“Afghanistan has good relationships with both US and Russia. We hope that by considering the situation and the shared enemies that threaten the interests of all the countries, the countries in the region and in the world increase their cooperation,” CEO deputy spokesman Omid Maisam said.

Tension between the US and Russia has affected Afghanistan and analysts said if tensions increase, it will have a negative impact on the country.

“An increase in tensions between America and Russia will have a negative impact on Afghanistan’s situation. Russia practically supports specific groups in Afghanistan’s war,” Fazlulhadi Vazin, a university lecturer said.

This comes after Afghanistan recently announced it would replace Russian MI-17 and MI-35 helicopters with US Black Hawks due to the difficulty of getting spares and maintaining the aircraft.

“The spares for Russian helicopters (MI-17 and MI-35) are not available when we need to repair them. We are trying to get the spares from Russia or another country,” defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said a while back. 

Now however the defense ministry said the Afghan government is trying to get more MI-35 helicopters from Russia.

“Government is trying to get more MI-35 from Russia. Right now we have MI-35, but the helicopters need to be repaired,” Waziri said.