As most countries implore Russia to stop its military attack, the Taliban on Friday, issued a statement asking both sides to desist from violence and resolve the crisis through dialogue.
The Taliban also implored both Russia and Ukraine to safeguard the lives of Afghan students, expressing concern of civilian casualties. Currently, Russian troops are closing to capture Ukraine, battling forces in Northern Kyiv.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine and expresses its concern over the real possibility of civilian casualties. We call for restraint by both parties, and all sides need to desist from taking positions that may intensify violence.”
“Afghanistan, in line with its foreign policy of neutrality, calls on both sides of the conflict to resolve the conflict through dialogue and peaceful means. We also call on all parties to safeguard the lives of Afghans in Ukraine.”
For weeks, Moscow massed over 150,000 troops on Ukraine's borders in a bid to pressurise Western nations to not allow Ukraine to join NATO, threatening an invasion. On Thursday, Putin ordered a special military operation in Ukraine's Donbas region, which quickly accelerated into precision airstrikes on Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, deployed tanks towards Lviv from the Belarus-Ukraine border.
In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has announced 'maximum impact' sanctions on Russia targetting the country's financial, energy and transport sectors, visa policy, exports among other areas.
