Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the sixth meeting of the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan.

The two sides discussed bilateral political and economic relations and regional issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) said in a statement on Saturday.

Muttaqi considered the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan of special importance for the Afghan government and requested that it become a mechanism for developing cooperation between Afghanistan and regional countries.

He mentioned the political and economic developments between Afghanistan and regional countries and expressed hope that the level of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Islamic Emirate will increase.

Muttaqi also talked about security and stability in Afghanistan, saying that security has made conditions suitable for investment in Afghanistan.

According to the Foreign Ministry’s statement, Lavrov emphasized on the expansion of his country's relations with Afghanistan in the political and economic fields, adding that Russian companies are interested in investing in agriculture, mining and transport sectors in Afghanistan.

He also pointed to Afghanistan's position in the wake of recent developments in the region and the world, saying that Afghanistan can play an important role in the region's economic connectivity.

Russia has already made a principal decision to remove the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) from its list of banned groups, with certain legal procedures pending, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov has said.

Kabulov said that Russia's Foreign Ministry jointly with the Russia’s Federal Security Service and a number of other Russian agencies are putting finishing legal touches on the removal of IEA from the list of banned groups.

"A principal decision on this has already been made by the Russian leadership. But the process should be carried out within the Russian legal framework," the Russian envoy said following the latest round of consultations on Afghanistan in Moscow, TASS news agency reported.

Russian authorities just need to bring the process in line with federal laws, Kabulov explained. "Hopefully, the final decision will be announced soon," he added.

Earlier on Friday, Director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov said that work to remove IEA from the list of banned groups was in the final stages in Russia.

According to the FSB chief, Russia can see that the IEA is "ready to fight" the Khorasan branch of Daesh, which he claimed to be "getting material support from the West which uses the terrorist group’s capacity to carry out subversive false-flag operations on our soil."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday called on Afghanistan and other Islamic countries to tie defense belt against Israel.

"If any nation wants to avoid the paralyzing siege of the enemy, it must open its eyes from the beginning, be awake," Khamenei said in a Friday prayer speech in Tehran. “When it sees the enemy going to another nation, it should partner with that oppressed nation and help it, cooperate with it so that the enemy does not succeed there. If the enemy succeeds there, it will come to this next point.”

"We Muslims have neglected this fact for many years, and we have seen the consequences. Today we must no longer neglect. We must be aware. We must tie the belt of defense, the belt of independence, the belt of honor, from Afghanistan to Yemen, from Iran to Gaza and Lebanon, in all Islamic countries and Islamic nations.”

He also said that “every strike launched by any group against Israel is a service to the region and to all humanity.”