Moscow sees Washington's decision to reduce aid to Afghanistan due to the failure to agree on a new government in Kabul as a way to put pressure, but praises the intention to continue US troop withdrawal under the US-Taliban deal anyway, Russian presidential envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov told Sputnik on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2020) Moscow sees Washington's decision to reduce aid to Afghanistan due to the failure to agree on a new government in Kabul as a way to put pressure, but praises the intention to continue US troop withdrawal under the US-Taliban deal anyway, Russian presidential envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov told Sputnik on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced late on Monday that the US would cut its assistance to Afghanistan by $1 billion in 2020, adding that the political deadlock in Kabul posed a "direct threat" to the US interests. However. he gave assurances to the Taliban that the US forces withdrawal would continue in accordance with the declared time frame.
"This is an instrument for putting pressure on both sides: [Afghan President] Ashraf Ghani and [his political rival, ex-Chief Executive] Abdullah Abdullah, whom Pompeo has failed to reconcile. It seems they have not accepted his offers ... This is a way to show annoyance," Kabulov said, adding that Moscow keeps calling on all the parties to the conflict to continue dialogue for forming a new government.
"Its [US] presence does not play any positive role. So it is sensible of the US to continue implementing the undertaken obligations under the US-Taliban deal, [signed] in Doha," Kabulov said.
