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US, Europe should not shrug off responsibility for situation in Afghanistan — Putin

I think that the US president did the right thing by making the decision on the withdrawal of troops, the Russian President said

SOCHI, October 21./TASS/. The US and Europe should not shrug off responsibility for the developments in Afghanistan, but nothing must be imposed on the Afghan people, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"I think that he [the US president] did the right thing by making the decision on the withdrawal of troops [from Afghanistan], but now, of course we must all look into the future," the president said in reply to questions at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

"But since they started the ball rolling, as you have said, they must not disclaim responsibility for the current and future developments," Putin stressed. "There are very many instruments for influencing the situation in Afghanistan, first of all financial ones, including in Europe. They are also responsible for what happened there," Putin answered a question.

Now, everybody must join efforts to help the Afghan people, he stressed. "We must go on the premise that the mistakes of the past must not be repeated, it is impossible to impose on the Afghan people what the Soviet Union tried to impose. We must not impose on the Afghan people what the US tried to impose," Putin summed up.

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Vladimir Putin Afghanistan

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