Russian President Putin comments on the situation in Afghanistan

Russian President Putin holds talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“We are interested in stabilizing the situation in the country. The situation there is as it is now,” Putin said at a press conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"The Taliban control almost the entire territory of Afghanistan, including the capital. This is a fact, and it is based on these facts that one must not allow the Afghan state to collapse. Now it is important to prevent terrorists from entering neighboring countries, including under the guise of refugees, and the process of "restoring public order" by the Taliban should be closely monitored by the international community with the UN Security Council coordinating the process," the Russian President said.

Putin notes NATO's activities in Afghanistan"of course can not be called a success".

“Those things are not in our favor now, and are spoken of as some kind of failure,” the Russian president said.

Mr Putin also considers it counterproductive to impose on Afghanistan forms of government and public life unfamiliar to the country.

"It is necessary to end the irresponsible policy of imposing someone else's values ​​from the outside, the desire to build democracy in other countries according to foreign templates, without taking into account historical, national or religious features, completely ignoring the life traditions of other peoples," the Russian president asserted.