Lavrov: US Failed to Consider Repercussions of Leaving Weapons in Afghanistan During Hasty Pull-Out

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivered his remarks during a press conference preceding his speech at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

Sergei Lavrov on Saturday criticised the hasty withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan, saying that it had been carried out without analysing the aftermath and resulted in huge amounts of military equipment being left in the country.

"Apparently, we all need to make sure that these weapons are not used for non-constructive purposes", Lavrov noted.

The Russian Foreign Minister said that Russia is unaware of any talks in regard to international recognition of the Taliban*, noting that Moscow received no request from the militant group for permission to appoint their ambassador to the country.

Lavrov also noted that the interim government formed by the Taliban in Afghanistan does not properly represent "the entire palette of Afghan society" in terms of "ethnic-confessional" and "political" aspects.

He also said that Russia will support the Taliban's "determination" to fight Daesh* and other terrorist entities.

Non-Proliferation Efforts

During his remarks, the Russian foreign minister also addressed the prospects of a restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the nuclear deal with Iran - an accord that former US President Donald Trump unilaterally exited in 2018.

Lavrov noted that the United States had said during the JCPOA negotiations that it was not ready to provide "written guarantees" that future administrations would not leave the deal.

However, he said that there is hope and optimism for the JCPOA to be restored, since it is something that is desired by both Iran and the US.

"Iran does nothing that is prohibited", Lavrov said when commenting on Tehran's nuclear commitments. "It complies with the non-proliferation treaty and complies with the additional protocol to the safeguards agreement".

The JCPOA deal was penned in 2015 between the P5+1 countries (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – plus Germany), the European Union, and Iran. Under the accord, Tehran was supposed to scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief from the United States.

However, after the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew Washington from the deal in 2018, Tehran slowly began to step away from its JCPOA nuclear commitments, while still underlining that the country's nuclear programme remains exclusively peaceful.

Negotiations on the possible restoration of the JCPOA were held in Vienna, but were stalled after the last round wrapped up in late June. On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran would return to these talks "very soon".

*Daesh and the Taliban are terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries