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US drawing out Afghanistan pullout due to concerns about future of authorities - Zakharova

The current US administration led by President Joe Biden earlier noted that it would make a decision regarding Afghanistan and the pullout of troops in particular after studying the way the Taliban fulfils the peace agreements

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. The real reason behind postponing the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan is the fact that Americans are concerned about the future of national authorities, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told a briefing Thursday.

"We believe that the real motive behind drawing out the pullout of US forces from Afghanistan is concerns about the future of current authorities who are still incapable of independently address security tasks despite 20 years of active military-technical assistance from NATO, as Americans acknowledge themselves," she said.

On February 29, 2020, the US government headed by President Donald Trump and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in Doha. According to the agreements, the US, its allies and the coalition are mandated to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan within 14 months. In turn, the Taliban guarantees they will not use the Afghan territory for actions that pose threat to security of the US and its allies.

The current US administration led by President Joe Biden earlier noted that it would make a decision regarding Afghanistan and the pullout of troops in particular after studying the way the Taliban fulfils the peace agreements. Biden said that the administration would find it difficult to withdraw American troops by May 1 but also noted that there are no plans to leave them in the country until next year as of now.

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