Putin, Kazakh president meet in Moscow; Russia-led CSTO to discuss Afghan crisis on Aug 23

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Kazakhstan counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Moscow on Saturday, saying that security was one of the most pressing issues, especially given the developments in Afghanistan. According to reports, Putin said in the meeting that the heads of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a security bloc led by Russia, would meet via video conference on Monday, August 23, to examine the developments in Afghanistan.

A previous post by Kazakh Presidential Spokesperson Berik Uali indicated that the heads of state would discuss regional security challenges and integration processes in Eurasia. Putin and Tokayev had their last face-to-face meeting in June 2020 in Moscow. Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, they have had more than ten telephone talks.

Just a few days later, the Taliban movement (which is illegal in Russia) launched an onslaught against government forces and entered Afghanistan's capital of Kabul, where they encountered no resistance. President Ashraf Ghani resigned and left Afghanistan afterwards. Many western nations are currently pulling their people and diplomatic officials out of Afghanistan, citing safety concerns. 

Dmitry Zhirnov, the Russian ambassador to Afghanistan, indicated that the embassy's operations continued as usual. In an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev highlighted the need to manage the situation in the country through peaceful dialogue. On the other hand, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry urged Afghanistan to create a democratic administration that included ethnic minorities and women and adhere to international law.

Must prevent terrorists entering Afghanistan: Putin

Meanwhile, during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised the tactics of "imposing foreign rules from outside." Merkel was in Moscow to discuss the Afghan crisis, the separatist war in Ukraine, and Moscow's treatment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in prison, among other things. Putin added that the "irresponsible politics of imposing foreign values from outside must be ended" in reference to Afghanistan. As a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which concluded in 1989, he said that Russia learned the hard way that it is detrimental to impose foreign types of government on the country. He added that "it's important to prevent the incursion of terrorists to countries neighbouring Afghanistan".

Image Credit: AP