US Intelligence, Accusing Russia of Shady Deal With Taliban, Is Involved in Drug Trade, Envoy Says

"Their [US intelligence's] planes fly from Kandahar or Bagram to any destination - like Germany or Romania - without any checks. No wonder, such is their business. Any Afghan citizen, anyone, in Kabul could tell you about it. It's an open secret and everyone is sick and tired of it and dismisses it as a given", Kabulov said.

Late last month, The New York Times, citing anonymous US intelligence sources, published an article claiming that Russian military intelligence offered rewards to Taliban-linked militants for attacks on American soldiers in Afghanistan and that US President Donald Trump had been informed about this.

Trump said that neither he nor Vice President Mike Pence were briefed on the issue, because the US Intelligence Community said the allegations were not verified or substantiated. Trump called the article another attempt at a Russia hoax to make Republicans look bad in an election year.

Russian officials have denied the allegations as false and characterised them as being part of the internal political infighting in the United States.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the Russian and US governments had not been in contact regarding the US media allegations.