PUTIN CRITICAL of ‘experiments’ in Western values.
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the nearly 20-year U.S.-led effort in Afghanistan had failed, and warned Western countries to stop the irresponsible “experiments” of trying to impose Western values and democracy on other countries.
He expressed concern about the risk of terrorists from Afghanistan infiltrating neighboring countries, including those passing themselves off as refugees.
Putin called on the international community to ensure that the situation in the country stabilized and to establish neighborly relations with Afghanistan.
The Russian president, making his first public comments about Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of Kabul, spoke at a news conference in Moscow with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after talks in their final meeting before she leaves office.
Putin said Russia “knows Afghanistan well” and understood that it was counterproductive to try to impose external forms of governance.
“Any such sociopolitical experiments have never been crowned with success and only lead to the destruction of states, and the degradation of their political and social systems,” Putin said.
“It is necessary to stop the irresponsible policy of imposing other people’s values from outside, the desire to build democracy in other countries, not taking into account either historical, national or religious characteristics, and completely ignoring the traditions by which people live,” Putin said.
He said many Western politicians were finally waking up to the fact that “you cannot impose your standards of political behavior or social organization on others, because others have their own religious and cultural specificities.”
Russia, as the successor to the Soviet Union, is still haunted by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, its nine-year occupation and its humiliating withdrawal in early 1989. In recent years, Russia has fostered contacts with the Taliban, some of whom cut their teeth in the mujahedeen, and which is designated a terrorist group in Russia.
Moscow has also reached out to other key political forces in Afghanistan, including main leaders of ethnic groups, anticipating a possible Taliban takeover and positioning itself to exert influence after the departure of U.S. forces.
Putin warned that it was crucial to prevent terrorists “of all stripes” from spilling across the region. Russia is engaged in monthlong military exercises with Tajikistan’s forces near the border of Afghanistan and recently conducted other exercises with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Putin said the key priority for the international community was to prevent Afghanistan’s collapse.
“The Taliban movement currently controls virtually the entire territory of the country, including its capital. These are realities, and we should act based on these very realities, not allowing the Afghan state’s breakup,” Putin said.
Putin said the Taliban had ended the war and begun to establish public order. He said the U.N. Security Council should closely monitor the Taliban’s delivery on its promises to guarantee the safety of Afghans and foreign diplomats.
The Russian president has had numerous phone calls in recent days with the leaders of countries bordering Afghanistan, including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran, as well as with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Russia has been pushing for international pressure on the Taliban to establish an inclusive transitional government involving all major political and ethnic forces, fearing that if the Taliban steamrolls over other groups, the country could slide into a new conflict. It has also been signaling the Taliban that if it wants global acceptance and support, it must earn the trust of the international community by avoiding human rights abuses.
But disturbing reports have emerged in recent days of the Taliban fighters hunting down and executing political opponents and opening fire on peaceful protesters.
Merkel said the mission had some positive outcomes in the fight against terrorism after Sept. 11, 2001, but ultimately failed in the broader objective of improving the future for Afghans.
She said the international community now had to face the threat of a possible resurgence of terrorism in Afghanistan.
Merkel said it was important to negotiate with the Taliban to secure the evacuations of those who need to leave the country for their own safety.
Afghan women and girls were fearful that they could lose the opportunities offered by education, she said, adding that it was important not to give up trying to make progress on developing Afghanistan.
“We hope that Afghanistan finds its way and at the same time that the international community will be free from the threat of terrorism,” she said.
“The Taliban movement currently controls virtually the entire territory of the country, including its capital. These are realities, and we should act based on these very realities, not allowing the Afghan state’s breakup.”
— Vladimir Putin, Russian President