President Vladimir Putin addressed the situation in Afghanistan during a joint Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Collective Security Treaty Organisation summit, saying that the Asian country is "economically devastated" after the military presence of the western coalition.
"We proceed from the fact that most of the costs for the post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan should be covered by the United States and NATO countries, which – this is an obvious point – are directly responsible for the dire consequences of their long-term presence in the country", Putin said.
The Russian president noted that there should be cooperation with the US and other nations concerning the gradual unfreezing of Afghan assets.
Taliban forces stand guard a day after the U.S. troops withdrawal from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 31, 2021.
© REUTERS / STRINGER
He also said that the government formed by the Taliban movement is not inclusive, but since they are now responsible for the future of Afghanistan, other nations should work with it.
"The country is in a state of complete economic and social devastation. Many Afghans are fleeing their homeland out of despair. We hope there will be no mass exodus, no exodus of millions of people, but it is a fact: many people are trying to leave the country and moving to neighbouring states", Putin added.
The situation in the Central Asian country deteriorated amid the withdrawal of US forces. By late summer, Taliban militants had managed to take over most of the country’s provinces, and on 15 August they seized Kabul, while President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and his government collapsed.
In September, the Taliban formed a new interim government that was composed predominantly of people of Pashtun ethnicity and had no women, while previously, the movement had promised that the Cabinet would be "inclusive".
*The Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other countries