FORMER LEADER OF the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev has said that a Nato victory in Afghanistan is “impossible” – and added that the US had no choice but to withdraw its troops if it wanted to avoid “another Vietnam”.

Speaking to the BBC, Gorbachev said that the right decision was to withdraw forces from the region, but added that the US would struggle to remove its presence. He said:

Victory is impossible in Afghanistan. Obama is right to pull the troops out. No matter how difficult it will be.

Twenty years ago, Gorbachev pulled Soviet troops out of Afghanistan after 10 years of war. He pointed out that before the Soviet Union withdrew it first reached agreements with Iran, India, Pakistan and the US.

He explained:

We had hoped America would abide by the agreement that we reached that Afghanistan should be a neutral, democratic country, that would have good relations with its neighbours and with both the US and the USSR.

The Americans always said they supported this, but at the same time they were training militants – the same ones who today are terrorising Afghanistan and more and more of Pakistan.

Gorbachev said Nato’s new objective should be to help the country get back on its feet and rebuild itself after the war. ”What’s the alternative – another Vietnam?” he asked, “Sending in half-a-million troops? That wouldn’t work.”

However, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said that “very difficult” work needed to be completed in Afghanistan and that troops would not be withdrawn from the country until this was done.

Hague admitted:

We have not yet achieved our central objective, which is our own national security and that is why we have to continue to work at this, even though it is very difficult.

So I will not claim to you that we have achieved swathes of our objectives – our central objective has not yet been met and we have to continue to work at it.

He added that life in Afghanistan, particularly in terms of education and healthcare, had improved in recent years.