VLADIVOSTOK, July 8. /TASS/. The withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan actually means that the United States has recognized the failure of its twenty-year-long mission in this country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.
"The United States is not merely withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, it is doing that having actually recognized the failure of its twenty-year-long mission," he said during a lecture at the Far Eastern Federal University.
According to the minister, terrorist and drug threats have dramatically increased since 2001, when the United States and its allies launched their operation in Afghanistan. "Notably, there are documents in the West indicating to the probability that US servicemen were involved in drug trafficking," he added.
He also noted that the situation in Afghanistan is being worsened by the fact that there are niches in that country that attract Islamic State (outlawed in Russia as a terrorist organization) militants. "Islamic State is deliberately pulling its forces in Afghanistan’s northern provinces bordering our allies," he said.
Apart from that, in his words, the withdrawal of US troops and Kabul’s unwillingness to form an interim government with the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) create conditions for a force solution to the conflict.
"The Taliban is behaving more belligerently because the existing agreement envisaged forming of an interim government that would work on conditions for forming of more stable government structures. Regrettably, the Kabul leaders are unwilling to organize anything interim, being afraid that it would oust them from active politics. So, it means that both them and the American, who are withdrawing from the country, leave the entire situation open for a force scenario," he added.
The US military contingent is expected to leave Afghanistan by September 11.