MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the situation in Afghanistan had a tendency to swiftly deteriorate and said Moscow was ready to defend its regional allies if necessary.Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday told Emomali Rakhmon, the president of Tajikistan, that Moscow would help the impoverished former Soviet republic contend with the fallout from NATO's exit from neighbouring Afghanistan if needed.
Rakhmon has ordered the mobilisation of 20,000 military reservists to bolster his country's border with Afghanistan after more than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled across the frontier in response to Taliban militant advances.
Lavrov, speaking on Wednesday during a visit to Laos, said Russia was ready to use its military base in Tajikistan, one of its biggest abroad, to ensure the security of its allies in the region, part of the former Soviet Union and an area where Moscow tries to retain influence.
"We are closely watching what is happening in Afghanistan where the situation has a tendency to swiftly deteriorate including against the backdrop of the hasty exit of American and other NATO troops," said Lavrov.
Related: Reuters - Tajikistan asks Russia-led bloc for help on Afghan border