Russian leader Vladimir Putin has his sights set on some of the $7.1 billion in American military weaponry and equipment abandoned by Joe Biden when he surrendered Afghanistan to the Taliban, a report said.
The Telegram account of General SVR, said to be run by a former Russian intelligence officer, reported on Tuesday that Putin is negotiating with the Taliban by offering to recognize the terror organization's government in exchange for weapons needed by the Russian army in its war against Ukraine.
"The Taliban possess weapons and equipment that are scarce for the Russian army at the front, including those seized after coming to power in Afghanistan," the post read.
With no western support for the upkeep of the U.S. weaponry, it may be easier for the Taliban to send them to Russia. According to the Kremlin officials cited by British media, Putin wants to supply his soldiers in Ukraine with these Western weapons.
Related: Taliban war booty exceeds military spending of Germany, Japan, South Korea, Australia, December 2, 2021
The General SVR channel noted: “People initiated into the details of the negotiations say that the Taliban are extremely surprised by such proposals, but they are discussing them in earnest.”
Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks told Newsmax on Wednesday that, if the report is accurate, it would be another example of what a "disaster" Team Biden has become.
The U.S. equipment left behind in August 2021 included rifles, machine guns, drones, armored vehicles, and helicopters.
"This hits home very personally for me," Banks, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, told "Rob Schmitt Tonight." "I served in Afghanistan. I was part those efforts of turning military equipment over to the Afghan army, Afghan police so they could fight back against the Taliban. To find out all of those weapons ... are going to end up in the hands of one of our biggest enemies at the same time as we're spending tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine to fight back against the same people we have given inadvertently our own weapons to, it just goes to show what a disaster Joe Biden has been.”
Banks added: “The end of the Biden administration can't come soon enough."
Team Biden “has been an absolute debacle and an embarrassment in how [it] has handled Ukraine from the beginning, and even beforehand. I would argue the reason Putin invaded Ukraine to begin with is because of the weak Biden administration and the posture of Joe Biden himself," Banks said.
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