Russian president Vladimir Putin and European Council president Charles Michel discussed Afghanistan, stressing the importance of maintaining civil peace and avoiding violence in the country, the Kremlin press service reported.
"Russian president Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with the president of the European Council Charles Michel. They had a detailed exchange of views on the events in Afghanistan. Both sides stressed the importance of maintaining civil peace and avoiding violence in the country, as well as establishing a real inter-Afghan dialogue for the sake of ensuring the integrity of the Afghan state while taking into account the interests of all population groups," reads the report.
A month ago, the Taliban (banned in Russia as a terrorist movement) stepped up its attack on government forces, entered Kabul on August 15 and the next day announced that the war was over. Over the last two weeks of August, there was an urgent mass evacuation of Western citizens and Afghans who cooperated with them from the airport of Kabul, which was under heavy US military protection.
On the night of August 31, the US military left Kabul airport, ending the nearly 20-year US military presence in Afghanistan. On September 6, the Taliban announced that Panjshir, the last of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, had come under their control with fighting.
The next day, the provisional government of Afghanistan was announced. The provisional government would be headed by Mohammad Hasan Akhund, who had been foreign minister during the first Taliban rule* and had been under UN sanctions since 2001. Amir Khan Mutaki became foreign minister, Mohammad Yaqub headed the ministry of defense and Mullah Sarajuddin Haqqani the interior ministry. All of them are members of the Taliban movement* and ethnically belong to Pashtun tribal groups of Durrani and Ghilzai.
* Terrorist organization, banned in Russia.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from RIA Novosti