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UN sanctions against Taliban may be removed if progress on human rights is made — official

Yuri Ushakov refrained from saying in what order - before or after UN’s decision to withdraw the sanctions - can Russia recognize the Taliban as new authorities of Afghanistan

MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. The Taliban movement may be excluded from the UN sanctions list, if a progress is made on human rights, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov said Monday.

"If a progress is made in these abovementioned areas [combating drug trafficking, combating terrorism and protection of human rights - TASS], then a situation might emerge that will lead to the exclusion of the Taliban movement from the UN Security Council sanctions list. That is, this will become a precursor or basis for the official recognition of the new government of Afghanistan," the official told reporters.

Ushakov refrained from saying in what order - before or after UN’s decision to withdraw the sanctions - can Russia recognize the Taliban as new authorities of Afghanistan.

"I would probably refrain from saying in which order now, but the most important thing is that all preconditions for recognition and certain UN Security Council steps are met. We are working in this direction exactly now," the aide said, noting that Russian authorities have working contacts with Taliban representatives, as well as trade contacts.

"Taliban representatives attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum recently, but the official recognition depends on the preconditions that I’ve mentioned," Ushakov said.

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