Revenge or calculation?
Russia has a conflicting history with Afghanistan. The former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979; there followed a ten-year war against Islamist militias, which were then supported by the United States. When the Soviet soldiers withdrew, the radical Taliban movement emerged from the militias. Russia had recently been accused of providing arms to its fighters.
According to the latest report, various theories are circulating about why Russia should support Taliban attacks. One theory says that Russia wants to take revenge for the killing of Russian mercenaries in Syria by US soldiers. During the war in Syria, Moscow supported Bashar al-Assad. Others suspected a Russian interest in keeping the United States in the deadlocked conflict in Afghanistan for a long time.
Trump has announced several times that he intends to end the long-term military operation in the country. In February, the United States and the Taliban agreed on an agreement that regulates the gradual withdrawal of the US armed forces. A prerequisite for the withdrawal is a decrease in violence in Afghanistan.
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