Russia and the United States are cooperating on the current situation in Afghanistan, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said at a press conference on Thursday.
"We have close contacts with our American colleagues, we have common goals in Afghanistan. As we understand it, this cooperation will continue regardless of their decision to withdraw troops," he said. Polyanskiy added that the situation in Afghanistan "changes radically with the withdrawal of NATO and US troops".
At the same time, he said that the scenario in which representatives of the radical Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation) seize power in Afghanistan seems very unlikely.
"We think this is a very unlikely scenario so far, and we hope that there will be a dialogue that will lead to the establishment of a government of national harmony," he said and expressed hope that the upcoming meeting of the expanded troika (Russia, US, China, Pakistan) on an Afghan peace settlement, to be held in early August in Doha, will facilitate this.
On April 14, Joe Biden, the US president, announced his decision to terminate the operation in Afghanistan, which became the longest foreign military campaign in American history. Against this backdrop, the security situation in the Islamic Republic is deteriorating due to the fact that the militants of the radical Taliban movement (banned in Russia) are stepping up their offensive in a number of areas. According to representatives of the movement, the Taliban have managed to control about 85% of the country, including areas along the border with five countries: Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Zuma \ TASS
Based on materials from TASS