Nebenzya announced the imminent dispatch of Russian humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

"In the near future we will send food, medicine, essential goods to Afghanistan," TASS quoted him as saying at a UN Security Council meeting.

Nebenzia welcomed the UN's prompt action on this issue.

Earlier, the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, said that contacts with representatives of the Taliban * since their coming to power in Afghanistan have been constructive and useful.

* The organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.