Speaking at a meeting of foreign ministers in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed the importance of preventing weapons and military equipment remaining in Afghanistan after the US-led NATO pullout from being used for destructive purposes.
“NATO’s hasty withdrawal has further confused the web of Afghan contradictions. There are a lot of weapons and military equipment left in the country. It is of great importance that they are not used for destructive purposes,” the top diplomat stressed.
“The Taliban (the Taliban representatives (outlawed in Russia) – TASS) stated that they intend to combat drug trafficking and terrorism, do not create instability in neighboring states, strive for establishing the inclusive government. It is paramount to fulfill all these promises,” Lavrov added.
The Taliban movement launched a large-scale operation for establishing control of the country’s entire territory after the United States last spring declared the decision to pull out its troops. On August 15, the radicals entered Kabul without encountering any resistance. President Ashraf Ghani left the country. On September 6, the Taliban declared they were in full control of Afghanistan. On September 7, the movement unveiled the composition of a transitional government.
