If the new authorities in Kabul fail to normalize the situation and the international community fails to support the Afghan people, events there may develop according to a disastrous scenario, said the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev, speaking at the annual meeting of Secretaries of the CIS Security Council in Moscow.
"If the new authorities in Kabul do not succeed in normalizing the situation and if the international community fails to provide effective support to the Afghan people, the events may follow a catastrophic scenario, including a new round of civil war, general impoverishment of the population and starvation," the press service of the Russian Security Council Secretariat quotes him as saying.
Patrushev has specified that it is difficult to predict what consequences this may have for the region, the CIS countries, and for the world in general, but has assured that they will be extremely negative.
The Afghan issue is especially relevant this year because of the Taliban's coming to power (banned in Russia, under UN sanctions for terrorist activities), which was a logical conclusion of twenty years of irresponsible policy of the United States and its allies, Patrushev added. According to him, the situation in Afghanistan today is unprecedentedly difficult, both politico-military and socio-economic.
He also said that Afghanistan should not again become a ground for ill-considered geopolitical adventures of external players, and it is a particularly important task to prevent this.
"Today it is more important than ever for us to combine our efforts for a well-coordinated and constructive work in the Afghan direction," Patrushev said.
"It is especially important not to allow Afghanistan to once again become a testing ground for ill-considered geopolitical adventures of external players. I am referring first of all to the attempts of the US and its allies to gain a foothold in the region, including the CIS area, under the pretext of worsening the situation in this country. Such initiatives must be stopped in accordance with the decisions already made at the highest level," he stressed.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from RIA Novosti