By the end of 1905, after a long period of rivalry, mutual suspicion, and outright hostility, relations between Russia and Great Britain had taken on a new dynamic. The changed international situation made it necessary to start searching for ways to resolve the contradictions that contributed to the development of the Anglo-Russian conflict. The Middle East was the region where the bulk of these contradictions were concentrated, where the interests of both powers most sharply clashed. Together with the Persian and Tibetan issues, the solution of the problem of Afghanistan should have helped to resolve these contradictions and end the conflict. Key words: Afghan issue, great powers, Russian-British rapprochement, agreement on Afghanistan. After the defeat in the war with Japan, the tsarist government was in dire need of a settlement of relations with Great Britain. The Russian authorities sought to strengthen their positions at least in part of those Asian territories for influence in which they fought such a long and uncompromising struggle. Russia needed a guarantee of the security of its southern borders and the peaceful development of relations with all its neighbors. The British ruling circles also showed a desire to reach an agreement with Russia. The sharpness of the Anglo-German contradictions forced London to look for an ally in the person of the government of Nicholas II. Now that the interests of both sides coincided, they could only come to an understanding on the Central Asian affairs that had separated them until then. The Anglo-Russian negotiations were launched in October 1905, when the Russian ambassador in London, A. K. Benckendorff, told the British Foreign Secretary, E. Gray, about the possibility of "reaching a friendly understanding in relation to Afghanistan, Persia and the Middle East." Apparently, the position of London gave every reason to hope for this, because soon A. K. Benckendorff conveyed to E. Gray a personal message from the Russian ... Read more