Afghan presidential national security adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar has stated that Kabul is not planning to completely give up on the Mi-17 helicopters and will use military equipment of both Russia and the United States.

According to the presidential adviser, in this case cooperation with one side does not contradict cooperation with another.

“I think that such a dual system will be the best option for Afghanistan. We hope that cooperation on Afghanistan will be restored and tensions will be reduced. It depends on both sides, all sides should work constructively. We have a common enemy and common challenge, which we cannot overcome individually,” Atmar said.

According to the official, the United States has spent “hundreds of millions dollars” on the purchase of Russian Mi-17 helicopters for Afghanistan, which has become a large contribution to the combat capabilities of the Afghan forces.

“It was a wonderful example of cooperation between Russia and the United States on Afghanistan. We hope that such cooperation will be restored between the most important partners,” Atmar said.

The situation has also been commented on by the Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov, who said that Moscow considers the decision of the US and NATO leadership to fully replace Russian armaments and equipment in Afghanistan with pieces produced in Western countries completely counterproductive.

"Such steps undermine the combat capabilities of the Afghan national security forces and endanger our common goal — stabilization of the situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan," Kabulov, who also serves as the Russian presidential envoy to Afghanistan, added.

Foreign Troop Withdrawal Should Not Be Condition for Peace Talks

However, the diplomat stressed that the Russian agencies and government bodies are working on several requests from the Afghan side on defense industry cooperation, citing the November 2016 intergovernmental agreement on defense industry assistance to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which stipulates the legislative basis for Russian assistance in arming and equipping the Afghan armed forces.