Russian Base In Tajikistan To Refrain From Unilateral Actions Amid Afghan Escalation

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2021) Russia's 201st military base in Tajikistan will be on stand-by as long as there is no enemy and will not be taking proactive steps with regard to the security situation in neighboring Afghanistan, Russia's special presidential envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said Thursday.

"The 201st [base] is in its place, as it should be, and as long as there is no enemy, it will not do anything except work on improving its combat and political training," Kabulov told the Echo of Moscow radio.

Earlier in the day, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said in an interview to Sputnik that Russia is ready take measures to prevent aggression against Tajikistan if need be.

The units of Russia's 201st military base stationed in Tajikistan, in turn, conduct routine and snap drills.

The Russian troops in Tajikistan are holding tactical exercises at the moment and plan to conduct joint drills with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in early August.

Afghanistan, bordering Tajikistan, is seeing a spike in violence from the Taliban (designated terrorist and banned in Russia) as foreign troops are gradually being withdrawn from the country. According to Tajik security sources, the Taliban already took control of about 80% of the Afghan-Tajik border.