Putin, Xi agree to step up efforts to combat Afghanistan threats

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in a phone call on Wednesday to step up efforts to combat the threats of "terrorism" and drug trafficking from Afghanistan, the Kremlin said.the two leaders said it was important to prevent instability spilling into neighbouring countries from Afghanistan, the Kremlin said in a readout of the call. Meanwhile, Russia is preparing to evacuate more than 500 people on four military planes from Afghanistan - its first airlift operation since evacuations from Kabul began. The Defense Ministry said Wednesday that it will airlift the nationals of Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine from Kabul. Teams of medical workers will be present on each plane, the ministry said, should any of the evacuees require medical attention. The evacuations will be carried out upon orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the ministry noted.