GENEVA, March 7. /TASS/. Afghanistan’s current predicament is the result of the 20-year-long military presence of the US and other NATO countries, Russian diplomat Artur Chernyakov said, addressing the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

"The 20-year-long military presence of the United States, the United Kingdom and their NATO allies is one of the main causes of Afghanistan’s current predicament," he pointed out. "The Americans, the British and their satellites left devastation and poverty behind after their chaotic withdrawal in August 2021, and now they are shamelessly trying to shift the blame to the Afghan authorities, and demand political concessions from Kabul in exchange for humanitarian aid," the Russian diplomat stressed. Meanwhile, "no proper legal assessment of the crimes that US and NATO troops committed in Afghanistan has been conducted yet and the crimes remain unpunished."

Chernyakov noted that the Afghan authorities "lack resources to improve the country’s economic situation, particularly because $9 billion of Afghanistan’s currency reserves have been illegally frozen." According to the Russian diplomat, "steps to stabilize the political situation, form an inclusive government system, fight terrorism and drug trafficking, as well as to integrate the country into the region’s economic mechanisms and ensure people’s rights and freedoms" appear to be a priority.

The Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) embarked on a large-scale operation to take Afghanistan under control in the spring of 2021 after Washington had announced plans to withdraw troops from the country. Taliban fighters swept into the Afghan capital of Kabul on August 15, 2021, without encountering any resistance, with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country. On September 7, 2021, the Taliban announced an interim government, which has not been recognized by any country yet.