It has been revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that the United States military should use Russian military bases in central Asia to tackle the Taliban.
The suggestion comes after US forces leave Afghanistan after 20 years of conflict, with the Taliban making strong inroads into the nation and seizing up large swathes of land.
The Kommersant newspaper reported that Putin had made the suggestion to US President Joe Biden at a meeting in Geneve, Switzerland.
Russia has multiple military bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan which border Afghanistan. It is feared by many that despite decades of conflict that the Taliban are once again on the front foot and that they could once again take over the whole of Afghanistan. Many fear that the country could also once again be used as a haven for international Islamic terrorists.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said that he believes the US withdrawal is likely to lead to greater instability in the region.
The Pentagon has said that it believes that the Afghan army and security forces will be able to hold back the Taliban and maintain stability within the war-ravaged country. Others doubt this.
Some officials have suggested that the Afghan army will need continuing air support from US and coalition forces in order to defeat the Taliban extremists, which is precisely what the Russian airbases could be used for.
It is not known if the US will take up Putin's offer and neither Washington nor the Kremlin have responded to journalistic enquiries in relation to this matter.
Lavrov has also stated that he hopes Russia can act as an intermediary between the warring factions inside Afghanistan.
Russia has a long involvement in the region, and as part of the Soviet Union, invaded the country at the behest of its government in the late 1970s. However, after years of conflict, the Soviet Union admitted defeat and left the country.
[h/t: Reuters]
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