MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. A Moscow format statement on the need to develop relations with the Taliban will have a positive effect on the process of their international recognition, Special Russian Presidential Representative for Afghanistan, Director of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov said on Monday.
"Perhaps, it will have a positive effect," the envoy said at an online conference in response to a corresponding question.
"President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin said that all these processes were developing in that direction. Therefore, this is not simply a matter of time, this is an issue of further behavior and policy of the new Afghan authorities both inside the country and outside. Beyond a doubt, this creates a good basis for the start of the process of recognizing the new authorities," the senior Russian diplomat said.
The Moscow format talks did not set any timeframe for the Taliban’s possible recognition, he pointed out. "This was not the task of the Moscow format meeting," Kabulov said.
The participants in the Moscow format meeting held on October 20 stated the need to build interaction with the authorities of the Islamic republic "regardless of the official recognition of the new Afghan government by the international community."
The Taliban radical militant group (outlawed in Russia) launched a large-scale offensive to seize control of Afghanistan after the United States declared its intention in the spring of this year to withdraw its troops from the country.
On August 15, the Taliban entered Kabul without encountering any resistance while Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and fled the country. The Taliban declared on September 6 that they had established control of the entire Afghan territory and on September 7 they announced an interim government in Afghanistan that has not been recognized by any country so far.