Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday accepted the credentials from Russia's newly appointed ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, during a closed-press ceremony in Kabul, the presidential palace said in a statement
KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th May, 2020) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday accepted the credentials from Russia's newly appointed ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, during a closed-press ceremony in Kabul, the presidential palace said in a statement.
Over the past years, the diplomat served as a senior aide at the Russian Embassy in the United States. Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Zhirnov as the head of mission in Kabul on April 29. The diplomat presented his credentials to Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar on May 20.
"Your new mission will open a new chapter in the relations and cooperation between Afghanistan and Russia and the need to further strengthen the relations between the two countries," Ghani said during the ceremony, as cited by the statement.
The president went on to stress the importance of expanding ties not only with Russia but with Central Asian partners as well.
"We import energy from Central Asian countries to Afghanistan and we want to open up other avenues for our products, especially to the Russian market, to export dried fruits and other goods," Ashraf noted.
Zhirnov, in turn, thanked the president for accepting his credentials and pledged that relations between Kabul and Moscow would be strengthened further.
