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Delegates to Moscow talks ready to weigh recognizing Taliban cabinet, says Russian envoy

Zamir Kabulov pointed out that the Taliban showed "quite a positive reaction" to Vladimir Putin's statement, saying that the Taliban movement could be removed from the list of terrorist organizations

MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. Almost all participants of the Moscow consultations on Afghanistan expressed their readiness to consider recognizing the country's new government, Russian Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said, addressing an online press conference on Monday.

"Clearly, Afghanistan's delegation was hopeful of securing support and official recognition of Afghanistan's new interim government. Almost all participants, with a few exceptions, highlighted their readiness to seriously consider the matter, but sort of in response to the authorities’ positive reaction with regard to all related issues. On many things, they [the new Afghan authorities] reiterated the statements they had made before. This concerns terrorism, drug trafficking and the need to make sure that Afghanistan's territory is not used for attacks on the security of neighboring and other states. These were important aspects so we agreed to continue the work," Kabulov noted.

The Russian envoy pointed out that the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) showed "quite a positive reaction" to the statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made at the October 21 session of the Valdai International Discussion Club, saying that the Taliban movement could be removed from the list of terrorist organizations.

After the United States unveiled plans to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban embarked on a large-scale operation to take the country under control. Taliban fighters swept into Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul on August 15, without encountering any resistance, with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country. On September 7, the Taliban announced an interim government, which has not been recognized by any country yet.