The foreign minister of Russia, whose country has taken over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in March, will preside over a debate on Afghanistan later this month, a Russian official said Monday. The 15-nation council will meet on March 19 to renew the mandate of the UN mission in Afghanistan by an additional year and discuss the situation in the country, dpa reported. Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Sergei Lavrov would preside over the council meeting as he made public the programme of work of the council in March. High ranking government officials are expected to attend.