Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, following a deadly attack at a concert near Moscow, stated that the United States did not combat terrorism during its two-decade presence in Afghanistan.
In an interview with TASS, Lavrov said the U.S. entered Afghanistan with the “sympathies” of the U.N. Security Council following the Sept. 11 attack.
“President Putin was the first to call U.S. President George W. Bush and offered help and support. No one objected or called the entry of American coalition troops into Afghanistan an aggression or occupation,” Lavrov said. “Everyone understood that such a terrorist attack must be held accountable. Twenty years of stay in Afghanistan showed that the Americans did not combat any kind of terrorism.”
Lavrov revealed that the U.S. created “structures and organizations there, which later resulted in Al-Qaeda.”
“Then they began to use it to punish and provoke undesirable regimes in the Middle East and other regions,” he added.
His remarks come several days after an attack at a concert in Russia, which left more than 60 people dead.
