Moscow is relying on CIA estimates that Kabul could fall within months, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Reuters reported Wednesday, citing sources, that US intelligence said the Taliban could blockade Kabul within a month and take it within 90 days.
"Since everything that is happening in Afghanistan is the result of twenty years of the US, we rely on CIA estimates," Lavrov told reporters.
Earlier, Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second Asia Department, told RIA Novosti that there would be no fighting for Kabul if the country's authorities change their line on the issue of starting meaningful negotiations with the Taliban on the future structure of the country. According to him, the capture by the Taliban of significant territories in Afghanistan does not mean that "one should fall into panic" and that the authorities in Kabul risk being overthrown: the fighting can last another two months during which the Taliban will take control of several more provinces, but it will not mean that they will become the absolute masters of the country.
The confrontation between government forces and the Taliban has been going on for years in Afghanistan. In recent months, the Taliban have gained significant territory in rural and border areas and have launched an offensive against major cities. The escalation comes against the backdrop of the withdrawal of US troops, which the Russian Foreign Ministry called an acknowledgment of Washington's failed mission in Afghanistan.
In 2020, Washington and the Taliban (banned in Russia) signed in Doha the first peace agreement in more than 18 years of war. It provides for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in 14 months and the start of an inter-Afghan dialogue after the exchange of prisoners. However, these talks have not yet progressed beyond a few "orientation" meetings.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: MFA
Based on materials of RIA Novosti