West lost war in Afghanistan - Moscow
MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) - The United States has lost the war in Afghanistan and the problem increased in their presence, Russian presidential special representative Zamir Kabulov said.
"The United States had enough influence, 17 years, to do a lot of what was initially planned. The presence of the Taliban (terrorist organization, banned in Russia) was estimated at 0% in 2001, and now they control over 60% of the country. What kind of U.S. and NATO presence is that if it doesn't resolve the problem, but makes it worse? We don't need such leadership," he said following negotiations with the Taliban in Moscow last week.
"The West has lost" the war in Afghanistan, Kabulov said.
"The U.S. is far away. Afghanistan is literally our underbelly, and the national interests of Russia and our allies are at stake here. We cannot just look at what is happening there. We have made it clear to the U.S. that they are failing to settle the situation. And we in this connection favor the formation of a regional approach to resolving the Afghan problem. Because only the countries of the region, including Afghanistan, are interested in resolving this country's problem. As for all other, non-regional countries, we will appreciate it if they can provide sincere and constructive assistance," he said.