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Russia’s UN diplomat accuses West of playing down its crimes in Afghanistan

Russia shares the "concerns about the realization of the right to education," he said

GENEVA, September 12. /TASS/. Russian diplomat Ilya Barmin on Monday said the 20-year-long Western intervention of Afghanistan, which was led by the US and the UK, is the reason for the current situation in the country.

He made the statement in a speech at the 51st session UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

He described the attempts by Western countries to shift the responsibility to the Taliban (banned in Russia) and play down their own crimes as hypocritical and cynical.

"As a reminder, the root cause of the current situation in Afghanistan is the 20-year-long intervention of the coalition of Western states led by the US and the UK," Barmin said. "The current attempts by the collective West to shift responsibility to the Taliban, which is accompanied by a deliberate downplaying of their own crimes, look hypocritical and cynical."

"We take note of the efforts of the new Afghan authorities to ensure the rights of women and girls in the matters of marriage and property inheritance," the diplomat went on to say.

Russia shares the "concerns about the realization of the right to education," he said. Barmin said "the suspension of the educational process for high school girls is attributable to difficulties, including financial ones, that arose in the organization of separate education for boys and girls". According to the diplomat, the matter could be helped if the US unfroze Afghan assets.

Barmin also noted that "a number of traditional donors", despite their promises, suspended or limited financial and humanitarian assistance to the Afghan population, including the restoration of the education sector. Russia calls on the US, UK and their allies to "begin to fulfill their commitments for the post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan."

The Taliban launched a large-scale operation to establish control over Afghanistan after the US announced in the spring of 2021 about the decision to withdraw its armed forces from the country. On August 15 last year, the radicals entered Kabul without a fight, and then established and interim government, which has not yet been recognized by any country.