The head of the US State Department, Mike Pompeo, said that Russia would pay a “huge price” if information about Moscow’s alleged “conspiracy” with the militants of the Taliban movement banned in Russia was confirmed. He stated this in an interview with Radio Liberty, the text of which was published on the website of the State Department.
Pompeo noted that he had discussed this topic with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“If the Russians offer money for the murder of Americans or other citizens from Western countries, they will have to pay a huge price,” the secretary of state stressed.
Earlier, on August 8, the representative of the political office of the Taliban Suheil Shahin said that the Taliban maintain only political contacts with Russia, and there are no military ties.
In June, The New York Times reported that Russia had allegedly offered the Taliban a reward for killing the US military in Afghanistan.
After that, The Washington Post wrote that several American soldiers died due to “collusion”. At the same time, the publication did not provide any evidence or even indication of sources.
In turn, American intelligence and the White House called such information unreliable. The Russian Foreign Ministry explained the publication about the connection with the Taliban by stuffing “provocateurs with low intellectual abilities”.