RUSSIA CONSIDERING REMOVING TALIBAN FROM THE TERRORIST LIST -PUTIN

Fri 22 October 2021:

As Moscow strengthens contact with Kabul’s new leadership, Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is considering removing the Taliban from its list of extremist organizations.

The remarks were made at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club on October 21, a day after Russia hosted a high-level Taliban delegation for discussions in which officials from China, Pakistan, and eight other countries participated.

Moscow has met Taliban representatives on multiple occasions in recent years, but it has refrained from officially recognizing the group, which it regards as a terrorist organization.

The ten countries in Moscow issued a joint statement in which they stated that “further practical engagement with Afghanistan needed to take into account the new reality, that is the Taliban coming to power in the country, irrespective of the official recognition of the new Afghan government by the international community.”

One of the goals of the summit was to reinforce the “efforts of the international community to prevent a humanitarian crisis” in the aftermath of the Taliban’s takeover in August, according to Russia.

Putin stated that Afghanistan should receive economic assistance and have its bank assets unfrozen because the war-torn country’s stability was in the best interests of all of its neighbors.

Despite warnings from humanitarian groups and the UN about the collapse of Afghanistan’s economy and worsening humanitarian crisis, Washington has declared it has no intention of releasing nearly $9 billion in Afghan central bank funds frozen in the US after the Taliban seized power.

Photo: Russia held the 3rd session of consultations in the Moscow format that involve representatives of 10 countries of the region, as well as the Taliban. 20 October 2021.

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