The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan planned by the United States should be responsible and avoid negative consequences for both the country itself and the region as a whole, Russian Ambassador to Kabul Alexander Mantytsky told Sputni
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2020) The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan planned by the United States should be responsible and avoid negative consequences for both the country itself and the region as a whole, Russian Ambassador to Kabul Alexander Mantytsky told Sputnik.
"The withdrawal of the US armed forces from Afghanistan should be responsible, avoiding its negative consequences for stability both in the country itself and in the region as a whole. I think that American partners are well aware of this," Mantytsky said.
The diplomat said that withdrawal procedures are under discussion with the Taliban in the capital of Qatar, Doha, where the office of the Taliban movement is located.
"We believe that the development of the situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the post-conflict period will greatly depend on the US-Taliban agreements," the Russian ambassador said.
In general, the diplomat stated that despite the coalition forces exerting pressure on the militants, the situation in Afghanistan remains very tense.
"Judge for yourselves: the armed opposition controls almost half of the Afghan territory. Moreover, in recent months there has been an increase in the intensity of terrorist attacks on the Afghan national security forces and NATO contingents. The situation on the ground is exacerbated by the low level of training of Afghan security forces, which, unfortunately, are not able to effectively wage a counter-terrorism struggle without support from the United States and its allies," Mantytsky said.
In Afghanistan, there is a confrontation between government forces and militants of the Taliban movement, which had previously captured a significant territory in rural areas of the country and launched an attack on large cities. The influence of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in the Russian Federation) has intensified in the country. Afghan National Defense and Security Forces conduct joint counter-terrorism operations across the country.
Since 2018, Washington and the Taliban have been attempting to negotiate a peace deal that would ensure the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the movement's guarantee that the country would not become a safe haven for terrorists. The parties' representatives have been regularly meeting in Qatar's Doha to address the issue, but the dialogue has been suspended twice over recent months due to Taliban attacks.
Talks resumed in January, with the most recent round taking place on Monday. US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani met with senior Taliban members and negotiators to discuss further steps in the peace process.
