Zakharova: West must make concrete commitments to rebuild Afghanistan

24 December 2021


Western states responsible for the situation in Afghanistan, led by the United States, should impose specific financial obligations for the reconstruction of this country, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.


"We believe that the main share of responsibility, and not just some theoretical responsibility, but financial responsibility, for the post-conflict humanitarian reconstruction of Afghanistan should be borne primarily by the United States of America and the countries of the Western coalition. Let me remind you that it was their twenty-year presence that led to the results that the whole world is watching now," the diplomat stressed at a briefing on Friday.


She drew attention to the fact that an extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was held on December 19 in Islamabad. The meeting decided to establish a trust fund for social and economic support for Afghanistan. "However, we drew attention to the fact that none of the participating countries has made specific financial commitments," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman noted.


Zakharova reminded that on December 18, Russia in its turn delivered to Afghanistan another third batch of humanitarian aid weighing 36 tons consisting of food and medicines. About 200 passengers, including Russian citizens and Afghan students studying in Russia, arrived from Kabul to Moscow on special flights of the Russian Defense Ministry.


"The current humanitarian situation in this country, especially due to the onset of winter, cold weather, is still one of the urgent problems, which is of concern to the world community. At the same time, due to the cold season, there has been a decline in the activity of terrorist groups in this country," concluded Zakharova.

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry

Based on materials from TASS