Situation in Afghanistan ‘deeply worrying’ due to West’s desire to gain regional foothold: Russia

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia said on Thursday that the situation in Afghanistan is “deeply worrying” because of the desire of the West to gain a foothold in the region.

“The situation in Afghanistan is deeply worrying. There is a desire of the Anglo-Saxons to gain a foothold in the region after the shameful flight from the country in 2020,” Secretary of the Russian Security Council Sergey Shoygu said at a meeting of the heads of security councils of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states in the Kazakh city of Almaty.

Arguing that there is an “obvious attempt” by Western countries to turn Eurasia into an area of geopolitical confrontation, Shoygu accused the West of using various methods “including direct interference in the internal affairs of independent states, political pressure, blackmail, threats, illegal sanctions and other methods” to achieve this goal.

Shoygu further said that the immediate threat to CSTO member states is the ongoing expansion of NATO through its increased military presence in the Russia-led alliance’s northern and western borders.

“The number of provocations in the airspace is growing, numerous military exercises are being held, which include training for invasion to the territory of the CSTO countries," Shoygu also said.

He went on to say that the goal of inflicting a “strategic defeat” to Moscow through the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war failed, adding that this will still not stop the “aggression” of Western countries because of the “steadily approaching collapse of their hegemony.”

“Trying to maintain their dominance, Westerners are increasingly resorting to measures of economic pressure, including sanctions and threats to use them. Against this background, ensuring the economic, financial, technological and industrial independence of our countries (in the CSTO) is of particular relevance,” he said.​​​​​​​