Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he hopes the Taliban will behave in a “civilized” manner in Afghanistan so the global community can maintain diplomatic ties with Kabul, Al Jazeera reports.
“Russia is not interested in the disintegration of Afghanistan. If this happens, then there will be no one to talk to,” Putin said on Friday.
He was speaking at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok.
“The sooner the Taliban will enter the family of civilized people, so to speak, the easier it will be to contact, communicate, and somehow influence and ask questions,” he added.
The longtime Russian leader said the withdrawal of United States-led forces from Afghanistan completed last month had ended in “catastrophe”.
“The Americans, very pragmatic people, spent more than $1.5 trillion on this campaign over the years, and what is the result? Zero. If you look at the number of people who have been abandoned in Afghanistan, (who) have been working for the collective West, the US and their allies, then it’s a humanitarian catastrophe as well.”
He went on to blast calls from US officials to reorient the country against Russia and China after the Afghan withdrawal.
“Figure things out first with those with whom you have been at war for 20 years, and then talk about how you’re going to confront Russia and China,” Putin said.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s president Kassyomart Tokayev said his country could not take in Afghan refugees who worked with the US because of “logistics” and what he described as “nuances and issues related to the sovereignty of Kazakhstan”. He did not go into details.
