Russia Warns US on Deploying Forces near Afghanistan

In this regard, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Wed. warned that his country is opposed with US military presence in the Central Asian countries after withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan, TASS reported.

According to him, presence of US troops in the Central Asian countries bordering Afghanistan is "unacceptable" for Moscow.

He went on to say that Russian President Vladimir Putin has explicitly stated this issue in a recent meeting with his American counterpart Joe Biden.

Ryabkov emphasized that presence of US troops in the Central Asian countries bordering with Afghanistan would also change Moscow's relations with the United States.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are all members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and that any foreign presence on their territories must be previously approved by the treaty members while none of these countries have raised such an issue so far.

Concurrent with the start of withdrawal US and NATO's forces from Afghanistan, Taliban have made significant advancements across Afghanistan. The group claimed last Friday that they now control 85% of Afghanistan's territory.