Sergey Lavrov said Friday’s conference should improve coordination of global efforts to combat terrorism and drug-trafficking in Afghanistan.

"It’s aimed primarily at increasing the efficiency of international cooperation in support of the Afghan leadership’s efforts to combat terrorism and drug-trafficking," Lavrov said at a news conference Thursday. "We would like to agree on closer cooperation to help make these efforts more efficient."

Friday’s conference, whose participants include United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Russia, China and the ex-Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Friday’s conference also will be attended by senior officials from the European Union, NATO and other international organizations. The United States will be represented by Patrick Moon, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia affairs. Iran and Turkey will also send top diplomats to the conference.

The Moscow gathering will closely precede a larger UN-chaired conference on Afghanistan to be held in the Netherlands on 31 March.