U.S., Russia Agree on Afghanistan Anti-Terrorism Measures

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 
Office of the Spokesman
October 18, 2000

JOINT STATEMENT BY THE U.S.-RUSSIA WORKING GROUP ON AFGHANISTAN

Moscow, Russia

The U.S.-Russia Working Group on Afghanistan held its second session
in Moscow on October 17-18, 2000. The working group, which reports to
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Russian Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov, was established pursuant to discussions between
Presidents Clinton and Putin at their Moscow Summit meetings in June
2000 to explore ways to stem the threats to the international
community from Taliban support for terrorist activities and narcotics
production. The October meetings followed closely the conclusions and
next steps agreed at the inaugural session of the working group in
Washington, D.C., on August 1-2.

The Moscow meetings were co-chaired by Under Secretary of State for
Political Affairs Thomas R. Pickering and First Deputy Foreign
Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov and involved participation from
high-level experts from both governments.

The sides agreed that the situation in and around Afghanistan
continues to threaten regional and international security. The main
focus of the talks was on imposing additional UN sanctions against the
Taliban and strengthening those already in effect. The sides also
agreed on the need to implement provisions of the regional action plan
on counternarcotics adopted by the Six-Plus-Two group in New York in
September.

The U.S. and Russia agreed to continue their efforts to persuade the
Taliban to cease their support for terrorism and close terrorist
training camps; comply with UN Security Council resolution 1267;
render Osama bin Ladin to justice; commit to a peaceful resolution to
the conflict in Afghanistan; end their support of illegal narcotics
production and trafficking; and accept international standards on
human rights, including with regard to the status and treatment of
women and girls. The U.S. and Russia agreed to continue, both
bilaterally and in multilateral fora, to review specific measures to
counter the threats from terrorism and narcotics production emanating
from Afghan territory.