The US called for sanctions against Russia for "colluding with the Taliban." On Sputnik radio, Yuri Rogulev, Director of the Roosevelt Foundation for the study of the United States at Moscow State University, shared his opinion on who the initiators of the idea are really fighting with.
Speaker of the House of representatives of the US Congress Nancy Pelosi believes that Russia should be sanctioned for "collusion with the Taliban", the existence of which is denied both in Moscow and in the White House.
"We must impose sanctions against Russia, and right now," RIA Novosti quoted Pelosi as saying in an interview with MSNBC.
Earlier, US democratic Senator Bob Menendez introduced amendments to the country's defense budget that provide for sanctions against President Vladimir Putin and the Russian authorities for alleged "collusion" with the Taliban.
Sanctions should be imposed if the Director of US national intelligence confirms that the Russian authorities paid remuneration to Taliban militants for attacks on American soldiers in Afghanistan. This should be done no later than 15 days after the receipt of such information.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the initiative of the US Senator, said that in the US at the moment "there is a lot of difficult to explain."
Earlier, the Pentagon said that it didn't have facts confirming information published in the New York Times about alleged links between Russian military intelligence and the Taliban. Us President Donald Trump called the publication "ordered fudge ", and also said that no one reported to him, the Vice President, or the head of the White House staff "about the so-called Russian attacks" on US troops in Afghanistan.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the article a fake. Later a rebuttal from the "Taliban" (banned in Russia) came.
On Sputnik radio, Yuri Rogulev, Director of the Roosevelt Foundation for the study of the United States at Moscow State University, commented on the situation.
"The Democrats have seized on all this information with both hands, which, of course, is a "work of fiction", a fascinating novel. It is based on a half-truth – in the sense that it was known before that the Taliban took money, and the Americans paid them so that they would not be attacked. All this has been known for a long time. The information (NYT Newspapers, ed.) only looks reliable for the layman, but in fact it is, of course, pure fiction," said Yuri Rogulev.
In his opinion, both the situation and calls for sanctions are directed against Trump during the election campaign.
"It is clear that all this is directed against Trump, this is a pure anti-Trump direct strike. The current administration concluded an agreement with the Taliban last fall on the cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of American troops. Here's the thing – the Trump administration did it, and the Taliban is the side that the Americans have been fighting for twenty years. Therefore, this is a blow to the Taliban, to this agreement, to the withdrawal of troops, and to Trump. And at the same time – to Russia. It's all about the political struggle, " the americanist said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"