US influence in Afghanistan limited to ‘manipulation, threats,’ says Russia

MOSCOW (AA) — Russia’s presidential envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, has said that US influence in the country was limited to manipulation, asset freezes and threats.

Speaking at a news conference in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan Republic, Kabulov said the US “fled” Afghanistan and “stole, but this is officially called frozen, more than seven billion Afghan assets.”

“This is their ‘influence’. And also American drones hang over Afghanistan and over Kabul, often threatening representatives of the Afghan authorities for their anti-American position. If this is called influence, then Americans have such influence,” he said following a meeting of the Moscow format on Afghanistan.

Kabulov said the attendees of the meeting did not expect any “breakthroughs.”

“Inclusive governance in Afghanistan is important for the Afghan people first of all, we proceed from this. Any other non-inclusive structure is short-lived.

“We are not engaged in breakthroughs, we are engaged in solving a problem, it requires patience … (Our position) implies a patient explanation that will convince our Afghan partners that they need to improve the system of public administration in the country and think more about their people,” he said.

The Russian envoy underlined that the Kazan declaration on the results of the meeting had been adopted by all countries, except Tajikistan.

He said the Tajik side disagreed on certain points of this declaration, but declined to elaborate further.

Addressing the participants, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Western countries have inflicted “irreparable damage” on the Afghan people, and must shoulder the main burden of the post-conflict reconstruction of the war-torn country.

Instead, he added, the US has frozen Afghan assets, which are needed in Afghanistan where people live in difficult conditions.

He voiced concern over attempts by non-regional players to intensify their activities in Afghanistan and reestablish military presence.

“We consider unacceptable the return of the US and NATO military infrastructure to the territory of Afghanistan and its neighboring states, no matter what pretexts they may use,” Lavrov stressed.

Kabulov told reporters that Moscow expects additional constructive steps by Kabul to form an ethnopolitically inclusive government.

“In the future, this may become the basis for the official recognition of the new Afghan leadership,” he said.

Separately, the Taliban said on X that acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told the meeting that over the past two years the administration, after rebuilding political, security and economic systems, accelerated the fight against insurgent groups, which were “trained by the invaders.”

Addressing the meeting, Turkish Ambassador to Russia Mehmet Samsar warned against complacency amid the “relative calm” in the country, pointing out risks of violence spilling into neighboring states like Pakistan.

Samsar said the Taliban’s “relentless fulfillment of its obligations to combat violent groups on Afghan soil is very important. The threat of the Khorasan wing of ISIS (Daesh) is real. We must support the interim government in the fight against this organization.”

On drug production in the country, he said the Taliban government had managed to reduce it by 80%, urging them to intensify their countermeasures.

The envoy also called on the global community and international institutions to maintain humanitarian support for Afghanistan.

Besides Russia, the Moscow format for Afghanistan includes India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.