Afghan interim Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim is in Moscow for a seven-day official visit focusing on Afghan reconstruction and military cooperation.
Mr. Fahim will meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov Monday to discuss how to beef up the Afghan army. Later in the week he will meet with officials in the Foreign Ministry and the Emergency Situations Ministry for talks on the anti-terrorist campaign and the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
Russian media say Mr. Fahim is also scheduled to meet with representatives from the military export sector.
An ethnic Tajik, Mr. Fahim became military chief of the Northern Alliance after his close ally, former Northern Alliance military leader Ahmed Shah Massood, was assassinated two days before the September 11th attacks against the United States.
Mr. Fahim is also expected to press Moscow to step up humanitarian aid and to resume arms supplies to Kabul's interim government.
Russia has already offered technical assistance, but stressed it has no plans to provide troops for the international peacekeeping mission in the country.