Biden was right? Putin praises US withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as Russia ponders removing Taliban from terrorist list
US President Joe Biden’s move to end the American military presence in Afghanistan was entirely correct and he should be praised for taking responsibility and following his convictions, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
Speaking to gathered experts and journalists at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday, Putin praised Biden’s decision, despite the Russian leader having previously slammed Washington and the collective West for creating a “crisis.”
“The first thing I want to say is that, of course, the US president did the right thing,” Putin explained. “He did the right thing in withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.”
“He must have understood, maybe he didn’t know in detail how, but he understood that one way or another that this would be one of the lines of attack in internal policies. But he went for it. He took responsibility,” Putin continued, praising Biden for the courage of his convictions.
However, the Russian president suggested it “could have been done differently,” noting that the hasty withdrawal has affected “the credibility of the United States.”
Putin also revealed that Moscow was moving closer to removing the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations but suggested that the UN Security Council should do it first. A Russian court designated the Taliban as a terrorist group in 2003.
Also on rt.com Russia won’t stand for unrest in former Soviet Union’s backyard, Taliban told at Moscow talks, as envoys praise end of civil war“The fact is that these decisions have been taken at the UN level,” Putin said. “Russia’s position will be to move exactly in this direction.”
Just one day prior, on Thursday, Russian officials met members of the Taliban hierarchy in Moscow. Following the meeting, Abdul Salam Hanafi, the acting deputy prime minister in Kabul, called for “the international community to recognize the current government of Afghanistan.”
The situation in Afghanistan escalated in May 2021, after the start of the withdrawal of US troops, who had been in the country since 2001. On August 15, less than a month before the end of America’s timeline to leave, the Taliban announced that it had taken control of the country.
Like this story? Share it with a friend!
