MOSCOW:
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that other countries should not impose their own values on Afghanistan and that the reality was that the Taliban had taken control of most of the country.

"The Taliban movement control almost the entire territory of the country," he told a televised press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Kremlin.

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"These are the realities and it is from these realities that we must proceed, preventing the collapse of the Afghan state," he added.

Both leaders said Afghanistan figured prominently during the outgoing German leader's final working visit to Russia.

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Putin also criticised the "irresponsible policy" of imposing "outside values" on war-torn Afghanistan.

"You cannot impose standards of political life and behaviour on other people from outside," Putin said.

The Russian president also highlighted the importance of preventing "terrorists" from entering neighbouring countries from Afghanistan, including "under the guise of refugees".