Russia Has Not Recognised Taliban, but Group Has De Facto Control Over Much of Afghanistan – Kremlin

Kabul fell to the Taliban on 15 August, just ten days after the militant group captured its first major city, and just over four months after the US announced that all American troops would be out of the country by the fall. Formally, Moscow continues to consider the Taliban to be a terrorist organisation.

Russia has yet to recognise the Taliban, but recognises the fact that the group has de facto control over the majority of Afghanistan, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Moscow wants to see peace and stability in Afghanistan, Peskov stressed, and will “very carefully monitor” what steps the Taliban takes next “in terms of ensuring order” and security, particularly as far as Russian citizens and Russian diplomats in the country are concerned.

At the same time, Peskov said that Russia has yet to take a firm position on accepting migrants from Afghanistan, and noted that work on this question by Russia’s migration authorities is underway.

Despite the terrorism designation, Russian diplomats have nonetheless sought to facilitate negotiations between the Taliban and the (now former) Afghan government in a bid to preserve peace and stability in Afghanistan – which neighbours the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, several of which are Russian allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) alliance.

In July, a Taliban delegation visited Moscow, and assured Russian officials that the group would not allow Daesh (ISIS)*, al-Qaeda* and other jihadists to operate in areas of Afghanistan under its control. Also last month, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu warned that Russian military intelligence has received indications that jihadists are being transferred into Afghanistan from other conflict zones, including Syria and Libya.

Russia has not evacuated its Embassy in Kabul, and the Taliban have promised to ensure diplomats’ security in the wake of the US and NATO withdrawal and the Afghan government’s collapse. Last week, Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov told Russian media that the Taliban were guarding the Embassy building in Kabul with armoured vehicles and machine gun-armed militants.

Four Russian military aircraft completed an operation Wednesday to take roughly 500 citizens of CSTO countries, as well as Uzbekistan and Ukraine, out of Afghanistan.

Sourse: sputniknews.com