The Pentagon on Tuesday again denied media speculation that the alleged “Russian reward program” of the Taliban (the Taliban is banned in Russia) led to the death of American soldiers in Afghanistan. The corresponding statement was made by the representative of the US military Department, Jonathan Hoffman.

Recall that the New York Times stated that Moscow, according to US intelligence, allegedly “offered money to militants for the killing of military personnel from the coalition forces in Afghanistan.”
US President Donald Trump believes that the story spread by the American media was invented to harm him personally and the Republican party. The Pentagon said it has no evidence of information about alleged collusion between Russia and the Taliban to kill US military personnel in Afghanistan.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the NYT article “a throw-in of American intelligence.” The Taliban also denied a connection with Russian intelligence.
Later, foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia has never supplied weapons to the Taliban, only to the legitimate government of Afghanistan.