On Thursday the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Moscow supports the decision of the World Bank to release $280 million of the frozen Afghan assets, but that all the assets should be unfrozen.
“We support the decision of the World Bank to allocate $280 million from the frozen funds of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund to the UN World Food Program and UNICEF.
However, we consider the measure to be insufficient and call for unfreezing the remaining funds, which amount to more than $1 billion, as soon as possible,” she said.
Addressing the Islamabad Conclave 2021, which had the theme “Peaceful and Prosperous South Asia” and was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the main reason for the current Afghan crisis was the freezing of Afghan assets by the international community.
“We are trying our best to inform the world that in spite of their like or dislike for the Taliban, the primary concern should be the 40 million Afghans, and what they will have to undergo if the current situation persists,” he said.
This comes as the international community has made the rights of women, the formation of an inclusive government, and human rights the main precondition for the recognition of the current Afghan government.
“The unfreezing of the Afghan assets is the right of the people of the Afghanistan and this money should be accessible to the Afghan government,” said Shafi Samim, an economist.
“Moscow tries to point to US weakness after it (US) was defeated in Afghanistan and, therefore, it plays a duel policy regarding Afghanistan,” said Ahmad Khan Andar, an international relations analyst. —Agencies
