MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. Moscow sees certain steps towards recognizing the government of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan internationally, Special Russian Presidential Representative for Afghanistan, Director of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov told TASS on Monday.
The Russian diplomat drew attention to international humanitarian actions aimed at rendering assistance to civilians in Afghanistan.
"Of course, the international community and humanitarian organizations should be given their due for their corresponding efforts, in particular, for delivering humanitarian aid and unfreezing some financial assets. The fact that these humanitarian actions are being carried out shows that there is a certain growth of confidence in the ruling regime. The Taliban can be credited for that," the Russian diplomat said.
The Taliban also "firmly hold all the reigns of governance in their hands," the envoy pointed out. "Despite relatively wide-spread warnings before the beginning of winter about a looming humanitarian catastrophe, now that we are in the middle of the winter season, such alarming assessments and forecasts are abating," he pointed out.
"A certain positive attitude towards the Taliban is also evidenced by ongoing foreign political and foreign economic contacts and the efforts by some countries to gradually resume their diplomatic or consular presence in Kabul. All this suggests steps towards the official international recognition of the Taliban regime," the Russian envoy stressed.
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 last year to withdraw its troops from the country.
On August 15, the Taliban swept into 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 taken control of all of the Afghan territory, and on September 7 they unveiled an interim government in Afghanistan that has not been recognized by any country so far.