Russian spy chief says West seeking to aid anti-government forces in Afghanistan

Russia’s foreign spy service chief, Sergei Naryshkin, has claimed that Western intelligence agencies are looking for ways to help anti-government forces in Afghanistan in hopes of keeping the country in a state of disarray.

Naryshkin visited Baku on April 17-18 to participate in the conference “Afghanistan: Regional Interconnectivity, Security and Development.”

According to him, the West is trying to maintain instability in Afghanistan in order to advance its own geopolitical interests. “It is the Westerners who continue to block Afghan assets and maintain sanctions against Kabul, while Western intelligence agencies are looking for ways to support anti-government forces in this country,” the statement said, TASS news agency reported.

He emphasized that Afghanistan “occupies an important place in geopolitics, and it is in the common interest of our states to promote reconstruction and prosperity on the Afghan land.”

The Russian foreign spy chief “noted the positive dynamics of Russian-Afghan relations and reported that Russia has started the process of removing the Taliban movement (IEA) from the list of terrorist organizations.” Naryshkin “positively assessed the activities of the current Afghan authorities in the sphere of state-building and expressed confidence in the inevitability of the prospect of their international recognition.”

“The primary obstacle to this scenario, in his opinion, is the West’s desire to maintain instability in Afghanistan to further its own geopolitical interests,” he said.