Putin: Western operation in Afghanistan hardly “successful”

August 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the outcome of U.S. and NATO military operations in Afghanistan could not be called a “success”, but it was also not in Russia’s interest to call it a “failure” in general terms.

Putin admitted that the United States, EU countries and Russia should learn from Afghanistan. At the same time, Putin called on all countries to jointly support the Afghan people and establish good-neighborly and friendly relations with Afghanistan.