Nebenzya: situation in Afghanistan has not stabilized

18 November 2021


Russia is getting ready to send food, medicines and essential goods to Afghanistan in the near future, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Security Council Vasily Nebenzya said on Wednesday.


The Russian permanent representative stressed that "the priority task at the moment is to provide Afghanistan with urgent humanitarian aid." "We welcome the prompt actions taken by the UN in this direction, and the established cooperation with the local authorities without any hesitation," Nebenzya pointed out.


"In turn, we are also ready to contribute to this common cause. In the near future we will send food, medicines and essential goods to Afghanistan," said the Russian representative, expressing hope that "key donors will also be generous in this critical situation".


Nebenzya said that "no matter how much aid through OCHA [Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] and fund programs is built up now, it will be impossible to solve socio-economic problems of Afghanistan without unfreezing funds from international financial institutions. He stressed that, according to UN representatives, otherwise the country will face "imminent economic collapse". "In this context, we support the involvement of UN funds and programs in the work with the relevant ministries to distribute unfrozen funds in order to ensure the continued work of different categories of civil servants in rendering services to the population," said the Russian permanent representative.


Despite the measures taken by the radical Taliban movement at the moment, the economic situation in the country is still extremely difficult. This is largely because the radicals have access to only 0.1% of state reserves (of $9.4 billion), because much of it is frozen by the United States. The Taliban have already asked Washington several times to unfreeze Afghanistan's state reserves, but, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, decisions by the United States and other Western countries to provide financial aid to Afghanistan and unfreeze its assets in foreign banks will be made based on the Taliban's further steps.


Nebenzya noted that the Taliban's coming to power in Afghanistan did not bring stability to the country, and new challenges were added to the old problems.


The new reality established in Afghanistan after August 15 has not brought either the Afghans or the international community any closer to stabilization of the country or establishment of a peaceful, indivisible and drug-free and crime-free state on its territory," he said. - "New challenges related primarily to the absence of international recognition have added to the long-standing problems that were not resolved for decades".


In addition, Nebenzya noted that Russia still stands for "formation of a truly inclusive government that adequately reflects the interests of all ethno-political forces in the country," and also for "a moderate domestic and friendly foreign policy with respect for basic human rights on its territory, including those of women and children".


The Taliban launched a massive operation to take control of Afghanistan after the US announced in the spring the decision to withdraw its military forces from there. On August 15, the Taliban entered Kabul without a fight, and President Ashraf Ghani left the country. On September 7, the Taliban announced an interim government comprised solely of members of the movement and mostly Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. Many states said such a cabinet was not inclusive, calling on the Taliban to include ethno-religious minorities and women.

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation

Based on materials from TASS