Deputy chairman of the Russian security council, Dmitry Medvedev, in an interview with Russian media outlets said the money that the US shelled out on Afghanistan during its 20 year-presence could turn this poor country into a blooming garden.
“Had the money that was spent over those 20 years been targeted to achieve other goals – I don’t know where it went, there probably were some corrupt deals and wasted spending – I think that Afghanistan could have been turned into a blooming garden,” he said.
Medvedev added when American came in Afghanistan in 2001 all the people expected them to clean up the mess there, but drug trafficking rose about 40-fold.
Deputy chairman of the Russian security council said that Russia is in contact with Taliban, but their recognition depends on the “implementation of a number of obligations, specially fighting against terrorism.