MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell’s calls for not letting Moscow and Beijing win control of the situation in Afghanistan are deplorable.
“If the EU foreign policy chief thinks in such categories, it grieves me that the member countries have to hear such a philosophy and, evidently, support it,” Lavrov stated, TASS reported.
“Mr. Borrell is focused on the wrong thing, he should be focused on the soonest settlement in Afghanistan. And this mentality that Afghanistan should not be ceded to Russia and China is of the either-or-type of sentiment: let countries choose to be either with the West or with Russia and China. It is sad that such people are in charge of the European Union’s foreign policy,” he added.
Addressing an extraordinary meeting of the European parliaments’ international and development committees on Thursday, Borrell noted that the European Union should not let Russia and China take control of the situation in Afghanistan and become Kabul’s key sponsors.
After the Joe Biden administration announced the end of its U.S. military operation in Afghanistan and the launch of its troop pullout, the Taliban embarked on an offensive against Afghan government forces.
On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance, and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours.
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani claimed he had stepped down to prevent any bloodshed and subsequently fled the country. Vice President Amrullah Saleh stated that under the constitution, he becomes “the caretaker president” in the absence of the president and called for armed resistance against the Taliban.
Western nations are in the process of evacuating their citizens and embassy staff.