Russia’s Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev has said that instead of fulfilling the UN mandate in Afghanistan, the US has been trying to gain a foothold in the country and increase Kabul’s dependence on Washington. “We see that in an attempt to gain a foothold in the country for years to come, the US has been creating a system in which Afghanistan is becoming directly dependent on US weapons and military equipment,” Patrushev told the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily. He also said that US announcements about the possible withdrawal of NATO troops from the country “are in reality not being put into practice.” None of the tasks set by the relevant UN Security Council mandate have been fulfilled by the US in Afghanistan, including the elimination of terrorists, Patrushev said. February 15 marks 30 years since the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. They were deployed in the country in 1979.