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Developments in Afghanistan

NATO countries bear primary responsibility for Afghanistan developments — Putin

In the Russian president's opinion, the first thing the US should do "is to unfreeze Afghan assets and give Afghanistan a possibility to solve top priority social and economic tasks"

© Dmitry Feoktistov/TASS

SOCHI, October 21. /TASS/. The NATO countries that fought in Afghanistan for 20 years bear the basic responsibility for the developments in that country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"With all the importance of our participation, the participation of China and Russia, other countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in these processes, the primary responsibility for what is taking place there [in Afghanistan] is borne by the countries that fought there for 20 years," the Russian leader stressed, while speaking at a plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

"And the first thing that they should do, in my opinion, is to unfreeze Afghan assets and give Afghanistan a possibility to solve top priority social and economic tasks," Putin said.

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