NATO’s failure in preventing Taliban from seizing Afghanistan, shows folly of western interference in protecting the country
The President of Russia – Vladimir Putin has said that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO’s) failure in preventing Taliban from seizing Afghanistan, shows folly of western interference in protecting the country.
His remarks came after a meeting with the German Chancellor – Angela Merkel in Moscow. Putin expressed confidence that this would lead to practical decisions by the West.
Speaking on the occasion, Putin said, “I think a lot of politicians in the west are beginning to realise that you can’t impose your standards for political life and behaviour on other countries and peoples, regardless of [their] ethnic and religious make-up… and historical traditions.”
He further said, “You have to give these peoples the right to determine their fate by themselves, however long it takes them to go down the path of democratisation.”
This was Merkel’s 16th and last trip to Russia as the German Chancellor, before she steps down in September 2021. The two leaders also discussed the Nord Stream 2, the controversial Gazprom pipeline that will increase the volume of Russian gas delivered directly to Europe, bypassing Ukraine. U.S. has been critical of this project as it fears that this would increase Europe’s dependence on Russia and allow Moscow to cut its supplies of gas through Ukraine, depriving Kyiv of lucrative transit fees and increasing its leverage over the country.
Responding to the concerns, Merkel stressed that Russia had signed a contract to supply gas via Ukraine till 2024. Russian can continue to supply gas via Ukraine beyond 2024 provided Europe first defines exactly how much gas they wanted to buy from Russia after then.
Putin said, “Isn’t that obvious?” We cannot sign a transit agreement if we don’t have supply contracts with our consumers in Europe.”
During the discussion, Merkel brought up the topic of Putin’s critic – Alexei Navalny who was poisoned with the nerve agent ‘Novichok’ in 2020 and was treated in Germany. The Europe and the U.S. had accused Putin of poisoning him. Currently, Navalny is serving a 2 ½ years prison term in Russia. He was arrested the moment he landed in Russia. Merkel also asked Putin to release Navalny.
Putin, however, clarified that Navalny is not in prison because he is a Kremlin critic, but for stealing 30 million Rubles (U.S. $ 540,000) from a Russian subsidiary of French cosmetics company – Yves Rocher. Meanwhile, United States (U.S.) and United Kingdom (U.K.) have recently imposed sanctions on 7 Russian nations linked to the poisoning of Navalny.
