01:51Russian President Vladimir Putin said Afghanistan needed a government that represented all its people before it would be recognised, speaking at his annual year-end press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
"We have to take realities into account, the fact that the forces that ended up at the helm of Afghanistan will be set up to ensure that all ethnic groups are represented in the leadership of the country," said Putin.
The Russian leader stated the most important thing to do right now was to urgently alleviate the ongoing collapse there.
He asserted that the countries that had occupied Afghanistan for two decades should be the first to offer aid.
The president also called on the West to unfreeze Afghan financial assets, saying the country is on the brink of famine.
“For our part, we will do everything in our power, but first of all we must unfreeze our holdings, cash holdings in foreign, primarily US banks, in order to provide humanitarian aid to the Afghan people in full,” he stated.
This year 507 representatives of Russian and foreign media have been accredited to participate in the press conference with the president.
The event has been held since 2001, with no press conferences held between 2009-2011.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the event lasted for 4 hours and 29 minutes and was done via videoconference. The longest press conference took place in 2008 when Putin spoke for 4 hours and 40 minutes.
Russia: Realities must be taken into account - Putin on Taliban recognition
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Afghanistan needed a government that represented all its people before it would be recognised, speaking at his annual year-end press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
"We have to take realities into account, the fact that the forces that ended up at the helm of Afghanistan will be set up to ensure that all ethnic groups are represented in the leadership of the country," said Putin.
The Russian leader stated the most important thing to do right now was to urgently alleviate the ongoing collapse there.
He asserted that the countries that had occupied Afghanistan for two decades should be the first to offer aid.
The president also called on the West to unfreeze Afghan financial assets, saying the country is on the brink of famine.
“For our part, we will do everything in our power, but first of all we must unfreeze our holdings, cash holdings in foreign, primarily US banks, in order to provide humanitarian aid to the Afghan people in full,” he stated.
This year 507 representatives of Russian and foreign media have been accredited to participate in the press conference with the president.
The event has been held since 2001, with no press conferences held between 2009-2011.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the event lasted for 4 hours and 29 minutes and was done via videoconference. The longest press conference took place in 2008 when Putin spoke for 4 hours and 40 minutes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Afghanistan needed a government that represented all its people before it would be recognised, speaking at his annual year-end press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
"We have to take realities into account, the fact that the forces that ended up at the helm of Afghanistan will be set up to ensure that all ethnic groups are represented in the leadership of the country," said Putin.
The Russian leader stated the most important thing to do right now was to urgently alleviate the ongoing collapse there.
He asserted that the countries that had occupied Afghanistan for two decades should be the first to offer aid.
The president also called on the West to unfreeze Afghan financial assets, saying the country is on the brink of famine.
“For our part, we will do everything in our power, but first of all we must unfreeze our holdings, cash holdings in foreign, primarily US banks, in order to provide humanitarian aid to the Afghan people in full,” he stated.
This year 507 representatives of Russian and foreign media have been accredited to participate in the press conference with the president.
The event has been held since 2001, with no press conferences held between 2009-2011.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the event lasted for 4 hours and 29 minutes and was done via videoconference. The longest press conference took place in 2008 when Putin spoke for 4 hours and 40 minutes.