Russia says Afghanistan not ready for NATO pullout

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Russia says Afghanistan not ready for NATO pullout

(Xinhua) 17:26, October 09, 2013

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MOSCOW, Oct. 9 --Afghanistan is far from able to shoulder its security burden after NATO-led forces withdraw next year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview released Wednesday.

"The closer the date of withdrawal is, the more evidence we have that Afghan security forces are not going to be ready," Lavrov told Russia Today television.

The minister said, apart from serious problems in the security sector, challenges also had emerged with the Taliban, "who do not want to get into the national dialogue with the government."

He said some Taliban forces only wanted to talk with the United States, which was "unacceptable to the (Afghanistan) government for obvious reasons."

Lavrov warned against "playing games" with the Taliban forces behind the government's back.WangXin

"They would be only interested in taking power 100 percent, which would be an invitation for another war in Afghanistan," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as saying.

Lavrov said, unless Afghanistan staged an inclusive process that included all political, ethnic and religious parties, "I'm not very optimistic about any political solution to the situation."

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has been fighting the radical Islamist Taliban movement in Afghanistan since 2001, is scheduled to pull out by the end of 2014.

（Editor：Liang Jun)