Russia is ready for any development of the situation in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops from the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper published on Monday.
"Russia is ready for any development in Afghanistan. But, of course, our interest is that the situation there be stabilized," he said, responding to a question about whether there would be threats to Russia if the Taliban (banned in Russia) seizes power in the country after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
To this end, Lavrov said, Russia, together with other countries, vigorously assists the process of national reconciliation. "In particular, we are doing this within the framework of the expanded "troika" involving Russia, the United States, China, and Pakistan. In the future we mean to intensify the work of the Moscow format, which includes all countries of the region and the United States," the Minister stressed.
Lavrov said that the surge of seasonal military activity in Afghanistan would take place in the next few months. "A sustainable settlement requires the formation of a government that takes into account the interests of all ethno-political groups of the Afghan society. The coming months may be decisive in this regard. There will be another peak of seasonal fighting, according to forecasts", Lavrov said.
"Much will depend on the readiness of the warring Afghan parties to conduct a constructive dialogue and agree on the key issues of the future state structure," the Minister added.
Power in Afghanistan
In its contacts with Taliban movement, Russia directly speaks about inadmissibility of their seizure of power in Afghanistan, Lavrov said. "In our contacts, we say directly to representatives of the Taliban that we are against their monopolization of power," he said.
According to Lavrov, concerns about the Taliban seizing power are primarily voiced by Western observers. "However, first of all, the Taliban themselves say that they have no such intentions, and secondly, there are Afghan political forces that obviously would not support the Taliban's coming to power by force," he stressed.
On April 14, 2021, US President Joe Biden announced plans to begin withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan in May and complete it by September 11, 2021, although the previous administration, led by Donald Trump, signed a peace agreement in Doha in February 2020 with the Taliban, under which Washington committed to withdraw its troops, as well as allied troops, by May 1, 2021. This retreat from the agreements has led to strong discontent on the part of the Taliban, who have effectively declared that in this case they consider themselves free from their obligations under the Doha agreement.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS