The United States is withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, effectively admitting its defeat, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"The US is not just withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan - they are withdrawing them, de facto admitting the failure of their mission," he said, speaking at Far Eastern Federal University.
The head of the Foreign Ministry noted that the threat of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan is growing in light of the withdrawal of the American contingent. According to him, this is connected with the reluctance of the Afghan government to form a transitional government, to which there was an agreement, and with the fact that Washington leaves the possibility of solving the situation in this country by force.
Lavrov also said the CSTO would immediately consider helping Tajikistan in the event of an attack by militants from Afghanistan. "If there is an attack on Tajikistan, it will be immediately the subject of consideration by the CSTO," he said.
The minister stressed that as a result of the stalled political process in Afghanistan, niches are forming where Islamic State militants are being drawn in. "And the Islamic State (banned in the Russian Federation) is purposefully located in the northern provinces of Afghanistan, on the borders with our allies," he noted.
Earlier, Lavrov said the situation in Afghanistan is rapidly deteriorating. Lavrov emphasized that Moscow will do everything to stop any aggression against its CSTO allies, including activating its military base on the Tajik-Afghan border.
Earlier the US announced that it had already withdrawn 90% of its troops from Afghanistan. It is planned to complete the troop withdrawal by the end of August.
In Afghanistan, there is a confrontation between the government forces and the fighters of the radical Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation) who have taken over large territories in the rural areas and launched an attack on large cities. Instability is growing against the backdrop of the US promises to withdraw all troops from the republic by September 11.
In 2020, Washington and the Taliban signed the first peace agreement in more than 18 years of war in Doha. It provides for the withdrawal of foreign troops, the exchange of prisoners and the start of an inter-Afghan dialogue.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from RIA Novosti