Moscow doesn't need Washington's advice in its policy on Afghanistan. Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Director of the Second Asia Department of the Foreign Ministry Zamir Kabulov told TASS on Thursday, commenting on US President Joe Biden's statement that Washington will ask other countries, including Russia, to do more to support Afghanistan.
"We don't need outside prompting as to what we should do, because such decisions are made by the Russian leadership. Such assistance [to Afghanistan] is already being provided, and this is common knowledge," he stressed.
Kabulov said that he would be in contact with his US counterpart Zalmay Khalilzad in the near future.
"We have contacts scheduled. When we agree on the date, it will be known," he said in response to a related question.
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the United States will ask other countries, including Russia, India, China, Pakistan and Turkey, to do more to support Afghanistan. He announced that the US intends to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan on May 1 and plans to complete the process by September 11.
Postponement of US troop withdrawal
According to Kabulov, Moscow does not rule out that the Taliban (banned in Russia) will launch a spring offensive in Afghanistan after Washington's decision to postpone the withdrawal.
"This cannot be ruled out completely, because here it is obvious that the Americans have violated their obligations to the Taliban in accordance with the agreement concluded last year. Therefore, the Taliban have such an opportunity," he said.
Kabulov stressed that Moscow would like to avoid such a scenario. "For us, it doesn't matter whether the Americans leave later, but the peace process in Afghanistan is of paramount importance, a priority," he said.
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the US would begin withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan by May 1 and complete it by September 11 this year.
On February 29, 2020, the previous US government, led by President Donald Trump, and the radical Taliban signed a peace agreement in Doha. According to the agreements, the United States, its allies and the coalition pledged to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan within 14 months. The Taliban, in turn, guaranteed that they would not use Afghan territory for activities that threaten the security of the United States and its allies.
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Photo: Press Service of the Russian Foreign Ministry / TASS
Based on materials from TASS