MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/. Terrorist groups may take advantage of the chaos left behind by Western countries in Afghanistan to escalate the situation in neighboring countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the second stage of the congress of the United Russia ruling party on Tuesday.
"A danger exists that terrorists and various sorts of groups that have found refuge in Afghanistan will exploit the chaos left behind by our Western colleagues in that country and attempt to begin a direct escalation in neighboring states and this poses a direct threat to our country and our allies along with the possible growth in drug trafficking and the aggravation of the problem of illegal migration," the Russian leader said.
"These are all threats to us and they are absolutely real," Putin pointed out.
In this situation, society and citizens must become more united, the Russian leader stressed.
"Coordinated measures by all the government agencies are also extremely important. I request the government, the Foreign Ministry, law-enforcement, security and defense agencies to strengthen their work jointly with parliamentarians in all key directions of ensuring the security of the country and citizens," the head of state said.