MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. The funds earmarked by the United States and a number of European countries to topple the governments of other states should be used to help the people of Afghanistan and neighboring countries, Speaker of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin stated on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.

He noted that "the budgets of the United States and a number of European countries to promote democracy in other states are climbing." According to Volodin, the issue at hand is "toppling the existing authorities and supporting those politicians who are loyal to them, creating tensions and conflicts."

"The right thing to do would be to send these funds to help the peoples of Afghanistan and neighboring states, which are facing the full brunt of the aftermath of the US activities," the speaker stressed.

He also pointed out that there were no reports from the US Department of State on "what kind of assistance will be provided to Afghanistan and neighboring countries." "We hear no statements from the OSCE PA, PACE and the European Parliament about human rights violations, the need to support those who found themselves in a difficult situation," he emphasized.

According to the politician, the US military’s 20-year-stay in Afghanistan had ended in "tragedy and a humanitarian disaster." At the same time, "the number of illegal drug laboratories has multiplied hundreds of times, and the population has become impoverished, with more than 250,000 civilians having been killed in NATO’s military operations and at the hands of terrorists," he noted. "If we analyze the factual information related to the US’ international expansion, when they [the Americans — TASS] invaded other countries and, under various pretexts, imposed their own standards, it would be difficult to name a country that would benefit from that. Today, we are witnessing the collapse of America’s foreign policy," Volodin concluded.

On August 15, fighters of the Taliban radical militant group (outlawed in Russia) entered Kabul without encountering any resistance, establishing full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he had resigned to prevent bloodshed and fled the country. Western countries are evacuating their citizens and embassy staff.