MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has called on the United States and other Western nations, which are responsible for the situation in Afghanistan, to undertake concrete financial liabilities on the recovery of that country.
"We think that the bilk of responsibility, not some theoretical responsibility, but financial responsibility, for Afghanistan’s post-conflict humanitarian recovery should rest first of all on the United States and the Western coalition countries. Let me recall that their 20-year presence has led to the results the entire world is observing now," she stressed.
She recalled that an extraordinary meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was held in Islamabad on December 19. Participants took a decision to set up a trust fund for socio-economic support for Afghanistan. "At the same time, we took notice of the fact that neither of the member states undertook concrete financial liabilities," Zakharova noted.
Meanwhile, Russia delivered the third batch of humanitarian cargoes to Afghanistan on December 18. It consisted of 36 tonnes of food products and medicines. Russia’s defense ministry organized a special flight from Kabul to evacuate about 200 passengers, with Russian nationals and Afghan students studying in Russia among them.
"The current humanitarian situation in that country, especially in the wintertime, is still one of the most pressing problems, which causes concern of the world community. At the same time, now that winter has set in, the activities of terrorist groups have decreased," she added.