Raab Speaks To Blinken On Evolving Situation In Afghanistan

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2021) UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has discussed the situation in Afghanistan with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

"Today @JY_LeDrian & I spoke about working through our shared membership of the G7, NATO and the UNSC [United Nations Security Council] to forge a consensus on the future of Afghanistan that safeguards our security and delivers humanitarian assistance to where it is needed," Raab said on Twitter on Saturday.

In an earlier tweet on Saturday, the British foreign minister said he had also discussed Afghanistan with Blinken, particularly the evacuation of UK and US citizens from the country.

"This evening I spoke again to my US counterpart @SecBlinken on the evolving situation in Afghanistan. We're partnering on evacuating our nationals and Afghan workers, and to forge an international strategy on counter terror, humanitarian relief and regional stability," Raab said.

The Taliban (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) entered Kabul on August 15. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resigned and fled the country to prevent what he described as bloodshed that would occur if the militants had to fight for the city. Most countries have reduced or evacuated their diplomatic missions in Kabul.

The chief of the political office of the Taliban, Abdul Ghani Baradar, will likely make a decision concerning the structure of the future Afghan government over the next two weeks, a source in the Taliban told Sputnik on Saturday.

On Thursday, Raab announced that G7 foreign ministers were urging the Taliban to guarantee Afghans and foreigners safe passage from Kabul. Raab, who chaired a conference call of Canadian, US, French, German, Italian, and Japanese foreign ministers, said in a statement that the seven nations would continue efforts to evacuate vulnerable people from the Afghan capital.