MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. The only good news resulting from the latest developments in Afghanistan is that now the United States has absolutely no grounds to claim the leading role in the Afghan settlement efforts, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Tuesday.
"Russia’s position looks far more yielding as it has already begun efforts to bring closer positions of all concerned sides, including our partners in the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization - TASS) and the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization - TASS), and the European Union, given that it won’t repeat the United States’ mistakes and will offer help rather than edification," Konstantin Kosachev, a deputy speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, or upper parliament house, wrote on his Facebook account.
According to Kosachev, the Americans will have to fit into such a coalition, but "naturally, not as the leading force, moreover amid serious mistrust toward them from the Afghans." "Now, they have no grounds to claim leadership. And this is the only good news in the whole Afghan drama today," he noted, adding that the United States’ attempt "to quickly knock together a coalition of six or seven nations is apparently ineffective," as there is not a single Afghanistan neighbor among them. "They don’t want to settle the crisis, they want to preserve their influence," he wrote.
"Neighboring Pakistan with its large Pashtun population will play an enormous role - whether it is going to be a containing factor for the propagation of radical Taliban (outlawed in Russia) ideas or their tacit supporter. Nevertheless, much will depend on the consolidated position of the international community in its efforts to prevent the radicalization of extremist ideas in Afghanistan, the more so, their expansion outside that country," he stressed.
US President Joe Biden said on April 14 he had decided to finish the operation in Afghanistan, the longest foreign military campaign in US history, and pull out American troops by September 11. The US operation in Afghanistan has been ongoing since October 2001.
After the United States announced the end of an armed operation in Afghanistan and began to withdraw its troops, the Taliban launched a large-scale offensive on the government army and by August 15 entered Kabul after meeting no resistance. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he was resigning to avoid bloodshed and fled the country. Western nations are evacuating their citizens and embassy employees.