According to the agreement being prepared, Russia will recognize the Taliban government in Kabul, in exchange for them obtaining American-made weapons and combat vehicles from the Islamists.
As is known: the United States provided a large amount of weapons to the Afghan National Army between 2001 and 2021, but during the Taliban’s control, a significant part of the military equipment fell into the hands of the Islamists. The Sun newspaper writes about it: according to their information, the Taliban have about half a million American pistols and about 50,000 American military vehicles.
The published information should be treated with reservations, as there is no indication through official channels that Moscow is actually negotiating with the Taliban leadership in Kabul. At the same time, the step would be logical at one level, since in addition to Moscow splitting Washington, so to speak, they would be able to get weapons from the Taliban that Ukraine has just received or has not yet received, such as the M1117 armored fighting vehicle or the UH medium multipurpose helicopter – 60 or the ScanEagle military drone.
A detailed analysis of US weapons before they go to the front gives the Russians an opportunity to prepare to develop tools that will help them effectively combat the growing number of US military equipment used by Ukraine.
Cover image: Copyright Los Angeles Times, 2022 via Getty Images
