Photo: kremlin.ru
Russian President Vladimir During a meeting with his American counterpart Joe Biden in Geneva, Putin insisted that the United States relinquish its military presence in Central Asia. The Wall Street Journal reports.
As noted by senior US and Russian officials, Putin's stance has severely affected the US military's ability to deploy drones and other forces in countries bordering Afghanistan. According to the publication, the problem worsened after the disintegration of the Afghan government and army.
As US officials have emphasized, Moscow is determined to keep Central Asia as a sphere of influence. He does not intend to expand cooperation with Biden in solving the Afghan problems.
According to the WSJ, during a meeting in Geneva, Putin told Biden that Russia was against any US military role in Central Asia. He also stressed that China holds the same position.
If the United States loses access to Central Asian countries, then it will have to use bases in Qatar and other Arabian Gulf countries for possible operations in Afghanistan. In addition, they have US Navy aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean, the newspaper reports.
However, the flight from the Gulf countries to Afghanistan will take a very long time. For example, an American drone can spend more than 60% of mission time flying to this country and back.
Earlier, German political scientist Alexander Rahr said that the essence of Joe Biden's challenge to Vladimir Putin was revealed to German politicians in Washington after calling his colleague a “killer.” The call was officially announced and it was noted that Biden had just invited Putin to a summit in Geneva. As it turned out, Biden apologized to Putin.