The United States ignored traditions and peculiarities of Afghanistan in attempts to impose democracy and its values on the country, and that was their main mistake, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"We know Afghanistan well, we have seen <...> how counterproductive it is to try to impose some other forms of governance on it [this country]," the minister said, speaking to professors and students at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University on Tuesday. - "Here the Americans tried to do there what they called democracy."
"In this situation, to pretend that you can force the Afghan people to live according to the canons by which the West lives is naive," Lavrov stressed. - "And this is once again an attempt to impose all their so-called values on the rest of the world, completely ignoring the traditions by which other countries have lived for centuries. "Here, I think, was the main mistake," he summarized.
Lavrov said that representatives of the Russian-banned Taliban movement have shown a willingness to hold a dialogue involving different forces in Afghanistan, which is a positive signal, Moscow is in favor of inclusive inter-Afghan dialogue.
"We are convinced and have been convinced for a long time that only inclusive, as they say now, i.e. all-inclusive dialogue involving all key forces is possible as a step towards normalization of the situation in Afghanistan. <...> We support the call of former President [of Afghanistan Hamid] Karzai to start such a dialogue, and it needs to involve Uzbeks, Hazaras, Tajiks and all other ethnic groups, all confessional groups. There is no other way. And the fact that the Taliban in Kabul are now declaring and proving in practice their willingness to respect the opinion of others - this, I think, is a positive signal. In particular, they have said that they are ready to discuss a government in which not only they but also other Afghan representatives will participate," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS