US President Donald Trump said that US intelligence agencies never reported to him that Russia allegedly supplies weapons to the radical Taliban movement (banned in Russia) in Afghanistan, as well as supplies it with money. The American leader said this in an interview with the Axios portal.
According to the journalist of the publication, the information that Moscow allegedly supplies weapons to the Taliban is "well known" to the American special services. "I've heard that, but again - this [information] never came to my desk," Trump responded.
He was asked whether Washington should raise this issue in dialogue with Moscow, if so. "Well, actually, we also supplied weapons when they were at war with Russia," the American leader replied, referring to the Soviet involvement in the 1979-1989 Afghan conflict.
In early July, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said at a briefing that Russia was acting in Afghanistan against US interests and allegedly had been supplying small arms to the country for 10 years, which poses a threat to US military personnel. In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commenting on these claims of the American side, said on July 2 that arms deliveries from Russia to Afghanistan went "only to the legitimate government of Afghanistan, which is well known", and not to representatives of the Taliban movement.
Earlier, US representatives have repeatedly accused other countries of supporting the Taliban. For example, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General Austin Scott Miller, claimed in 2018 that reconciliation in Afghanistan could not be achieved because of the alleged support of the Taliban from Russia, Iran and Pakistan. Other American officials have also repeatedly alleged that Russia provided weapons to the Taliban.
Moscow has repeatedly denied such accusations. The Taliban is banned in Russia. The US authorities did not provide any evidence of Moscow's support for the Taliban.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Patrick Semansky / AP / TASS
Based on materials from TASS