Russia could send troops to Afghanistan to fight terrorism if the country’s authorities ask for it, Moscow’s special envoy reportedly said this week.
But for this, Zamir Kabulov, said that it is necessary to wait for the results of the inter-Afghan dialogue and the formation of a coalition government that will represent the interests of all Afghans.
“As regards the fight against terrorism and military assistance to Afghanistan in this matter, let’s wait until there is a normal government in Kabul and we will discuss military assistance with it,” Kabulov told Federal News Agency, Russian weekly newspaper NVO reported.
He also noted that Russia had already come up with a similar initiative, but it was not properly evaluated.
“We at one time offered help that either the Americans or the Afghans provided with various conditions. We do not impose our good offices, but when we are politely asked, we are ready to do so. The terms of assistance will be determined by the Russian leadership,” Kabulov said.
Last week, the United States signed a peace deal with the Taliban that included withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and Taliban’s counter-terrorism commitment among other things.
On Taliban increasing violence against Afghan forces despite the deal, Kabulov suggested that it happened because of President Ashraf Ghani’s refusal to release Taliban prisoners as agreed in the deal.
“This naturally irritated the Taliban, and they answered this statement:“ Well, great! In this case, we will not continue the temporary ceasefire and will consider ourselves free to fight with the government forces,” Kabulov said.
