Russia will not be providing fee Mi-17 choppers to Afghanistan as the US plans to withdraw from the war-torn country. This was stated by Russian Presidential Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov to Russian News Agency TASS. Afghanistan was earlier looking for India to sponsor their defence needs which were to be procured from the Russian Federation.
“It is utterly unreasonable for an unfriendly president to demand gifts from us – Kabulov said. They are not asking for something trifle. What they are asking for is necessary for the Russian military and costs a lot.”
Asked about Washington’s refusal to help Afghanistan purchase aircraft from Russia, the diplomat said that Kabul should look for other avenues to bankroll the deal. “If the US wishes to provide their helicopters, they are free to do so. If the Afghan government wants to have our helicopters, it should look for ways of persuading the Americans or other donors (which experts states was an indirect reference to India),” Kabulov said.
Meanwhile, Zamir Kabulov also stated that the US will have to eventually withdraw from Afghanistan and Russia will be ready to help the Americans. “They will have to leave, sooner or later. And they need to withdraw without a loss of face. We in Russia are ready to offer help – to the extent we are capable of doing so – so that this agreement could be achieved,” the diplomat said.
“However, as they say, [the US] will have to pay for the broken dishes in Afghanistan by reconstructing the country earnestly now, but not like in the previous 17 years,” he continued. “Hundreds of billions of dollars have been poured in, but the effect is invisible,” he added. “The donors should behave in another way, while Afghanistan’s future government should show responsibility about foreign aid.”
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