MOSCOW Moscow is ready to renew cooperation with the United States and other NATO powers to reach mutual goals in Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, a Russian Foreign Ministry official, said in an interview with the state TASS agency published on Thursday.

Kabulov said Russia was concerned about insurgents' activity in Afghanistan and it was not the best time for Washington to withdraw troops from there.

"The situation with security in this country is deteriorating, while Afghan national security forces are unable to stand against armed opposition due to a number of reasons," Kabulov said.

"In such circumstances a hasty departure of foreign military servicemen could have unpredictable consequences and destroy those minimal positive results that were achieved in recent years."

(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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Russian foreign ministry says ready to cooperate with NATO in Afghanistan: TASS - Reuters