MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin weighed in on Washington’s military operation in Afghanistan and its ensuing pullout on Friday.

"As for the operation in Afghanistan, naturally, it cannot be called successful," he said at a news conference after talks with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "But it is not in our interests to go around in circles and keep on speaking about it as a failure."

"We were interested in a stable situation in that country. Today it is as it is. I think that many politicians in the West are starting to come to grips about what I said in my opening statement that it is unacceptable to impose alien standards of political life and conduct on other countries and nations, ignoring their ethnic and religious specifics, and their historical traditions," he pointed out.

He called on countries to consolidate efforts to support the Afghan people and normalize the situation in Afghanistan. "I think that this is the lesson of Afghanistan and we, together with other partners, with the United States, with European countries <…> must do our utmost to consolidate efforts to support the Afghan people, to normalize the situation in that country, and to establish good neighborly relations with it," he said.

The Russian president stressed that attitudes based on respect among partners should be a universal rule for all countries. “Patience is needed, whether we like something or not. At the end of the day, it is essential to grant these people the right to choose their own destiny, no matter how long it might take them to go down the road of democratizing their countries and no matter whether we like or dislike what is going on internally. We must build good-neighborly relations and respect each other’s interests on the international arena," Putin noted.

After the Biden administration had announced the end of its US military operation in Afghanistan and the launch of its troop pullout, the Taliban embarked on an offensive against Afghan government forces. On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance, and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said he had stepped down to prevent any bloodshed and subsequently fled the country. At present, Western nations are evacuating their citizens and embassy staff.