According to a report by Russian TV Today (RT) on the 25th, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Russia’s First TV on Sunday that Russia has long supported the US military presence in Afghanistan because Russia believes that the US military presence is helpful to the stability of the region. And Russia’s national interests. Putin said: “I repeat, there is no need for us to dispute the US presence in Afghanistan.”
Earlier, the “New York Times” initially published related reports on “Russia offering a reward for the Taliban’s assassination of US Army,” but eventually admitted that there was no evidence to prove its accusation. The Pentagon stated that it did not find any evidence after “complete investigation” of the incident. However, the lack of evidence has not prevented some American politicians, including Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, from reiterating these allegations.
Putin believes that these “bounty” accusations against Russia are “baseless”. He said: “It is’weird’ to hear such assertions, because harming the US military in Afghanistan will ultimately harm Russia’s own interests. We have supported the US presence in Afghanistan from the beginning. We support the corresponding resolutions of the UN Security Council.”
Putin said: “The U.S. presence in Afghanistan still helps…maintain stability in Afghanistan. In this sense, this does not go against Russia’s own priorities. On the contrary, the withdrawal of U.S. Army may cause’many risks’. Even if this move may create conditions for reconciliation within Afghanistan.”
Putin also said that the withdrawal of the United States may also mean that Russia needs to bear some additional costs on its own to maintain stability in the region.
Putin also praised the continued cooperation between Russia and the United States in the field of intelligence and security. He said: “The intelligence provided by the United States has repeatedly helped the Russian security services prevent terrorist attacks that will occur in the country. We believe that the United States’ actions in Afghanistan are counter-terrorism.”
According to the report, Moscow has also been sharing counter-terrorism intelligence that may be of interest to the US with Washington, and has helped the US counter-terrorism in other ways. Putin mentioned that Russia also helped the United States retrieve an American citizen arrested in Syria on charges of espionage.
