The United States, withdrawing from Afghanistan, where it lost everything it could lose, is trying to gain a foothold in the Central Asian region, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told reporters Wednesday.
"The US has announced to everyone and widely: we are withdrawing from Afghanistan. This is indeed true. At the same time, there are negotiations with all the neighboring countries regarding the creation of logistical centers and bases for withdrawal of equipment from Afghanistan, and, naturally, the creation of centers that could receive, among others, refugees from Afghanistan, the people with whom the United States has cooperated there for many years," Shoigu said.
According to him, it's no secret that these talks are "quite active and quite intrusive." "I can only say one thing here," the minister continued, "and normal common sense logic: why go out if you're standing right there, behind the fence, and figuratively speaking, trying to observe through the cracks what's going on there? Why go out? In order to stay literally on the border? The answer is quite obvious: it is an attempt to gain a foothold in the Central Asian region. Naturally, having lost everything that could be lost in Afghanistan".
At the same time, Shoigu noted that it is difficult to find "a good place on the planet, with good consequences, where the US came and where it stayed for a long time." "The same in Syria, the same in Libya - anything good there? It goes on there. In Syria, there is an unceremonious plundering of the state, oil and other minerals are being taken out completely unceremoniously. They are exported without the knowledge and without any benefit for the Syrian state," Shoigu said.
On the other hand, he noted, "sanctions are being kept, which prohibit supplying the same petroleum products to same Syria." "And it's not just oil products there. There's food and medicine and a lot of other things. What good has happened there? Libya is divided into two parts at the moment, and God grants that the agreements that were signed in Berlin will be implemented. Naturally, everyone is doing everything to ensure that, in the end, Libya will [become] peaceful and united again, and God willing, a prosperous state," Shoigu said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS