On Monday, the US Department of Defense confirmed that America’s 20-year presence in Afghanistan had come to a close, when the final Boeing C-17 Globemaster departed from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport around 3:29 p.m. Eastern Time.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the 20-year US presence in Afghanistan only resulted in tragedies.

The statement follows the Pentagon officially announcing the end of the American military mission in Afghanistan on Monday, as the last plane carrying US forces left Kabul Airport, giving the Taliban full control.

“For twenty years, American troops had been on this [Afghan] territory and for twenty years they tried – one can say this without offending anyone – to civilize the people who live there, to introduce their norms and standards of life in the broadest sense of the word, including the political organization of society”, Putin said at a meeting with students from the school of the All-Russian Children’s Centre “Ocean” on Wednesday.