Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says NATO used Afghanistan following the 11 September 2001 attacks as a justification for maintaining its military presence.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, Lavrov described NATO’s nearly 20-year mission in Afghanistan as a failure, saying it ended in “failure and disgrace” and that NATO forces eventually withdrew from the country.
He also said NATO should have been dissolved after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as the Warsaw Pact was. However, according to Lavrov, after its failure in Afghanistan, NATO shifted its focus and portrayed Russia as a new threat in place of the Soviet Union.
The US and NATO military presence in Afghanistan began in 2001 and continued for nearly two decades. Following the agreement between the United States and the Taliban, the last US troops left Afghanistan on 31 August 2021, bringing Washington’s military presence in the country to an end.
