Lavrov Says Counterproductive To Impose Any Form Of Governance On Afghanistan

KALININGRAD (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th August, 2021) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed the belief that imposing any form of governance on Afghanistan is counterproductive.

"We know Afghanistan well, we know how this country is organized and how counterproductive it is to impose any form of governance. But the Americans tried to create what they consider to be democracy there," Lavrov said at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University.

Western attempts to impose their standards of democracy on Afghanistan were a grave mistake, the Russian foreign minister continued.

It is naive to think that it is possible to make the Afghan people live in accordance with Western values, while totally ignoring local traditions that have been prevalent there for centuries, Lavrov added.

The same day, the top Russian diplomat said that Moscow was not rushing to recognize the Taliban (designated terrorist by the UN and Russia), who took control of Afghanistan on Sunday. The takeover happened almost a month prior to the scheduled date of the complete withdrawal of international troops from the country.