Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan on Tuesday said Moscow may recognize the interim Taliban government.
Speaking to the Russian state television Channel One Russia, Zamir Kabulov said that the deputy trade minister of the Taliban interim government will pay a visit to Moscow.
The envoy said Afghanistan applied to Russia for the purchase of some products and Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed the grain to be reserved for Afghanistan.
About the possible Russian recognition of the interim Taliban government in Afghanistan, Kabulov said: “There is such a possibility. Its conditions were determined by both the Russian president and foreign minister.”
Putin's special envoy says Moscow will not follow US policy on Afghanistan and will make it's own decision on the matter. https://t.co/qDhT6lAgGC
— Hameed Shuja (@hameedshuja) June 15, 2022
He also stressed that Russia will not follow the US and other countries in recognition of the interim Taliban government, adding that the Taliban are willing to cooperate with Russia and work in line with accepted international rules.
President Vladimir Putin’s special representative on Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said last year that Russia is working to establish relations with the Afghanistan’s new Taliban leaders. This statement came in the wake when Afghanistan is undergoing the largest evacuation process with the deadline of August 31st for the US troops’ final withdrawal.
Russia to engage in Afghan rebuilding process
As pointed by Putin’s spokesperson, Russia desires to establish relations with new Afghan Taliban leaders and is ready to help them in rebuilding Afghanistan’s economy. He stated the need for collaboration among countries to rebuild Afghanistan’s war-ravaged economy which suffered the brunt of aggression and violence for 40 years. He urged Western nations not to freeze the Afghan government’s financial assets.
Read more: How do Russia, Pakistan, China, Iran and India view the Taliban’s rise in Afghanistan?
“We are establishing ties (with Taliban officials), our embassy in Kabul is working quite actively on this,” he told Russian state television. “We have had such contacts for a long time and we will work further on them.”
Anadolu with additional input by GVS News Desk