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Russia may recognize Taliban in future should they 'earn' that privilege — envoy

Zamir Kabulov stressed that Taliban should show in deed that they are ready to respond to the call for an ethnopolicital inclusive government

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Russia may recognize the interim Taliban (outlawed in Russia) government in the future, but its representatives must earn this by fulfilling their obligations, Russian Presidential Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said in an interview with RTVI.

"The Taliban will have to earn that recognition. That is, they should show in deed that they are ready to respond to the call for an ethnopolicital inclusive government," the Russian diplomat insisted. "If they take this step, it will pave the way for Russia potentially recognizing the Taliban regime," he added.

The Charge d’Affaires currently heads the Afghan embassy in Moscow because Russia cannot receive the ambassador as Moscow does not recognize the Taliban government, explained Kabulov, who is also the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asia Department.

When asked if Russia was planning to announce removing the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations following the upcoming Moscow format meeting, he said "no such announcements are expected." Nor will any deals be concluded, Kabulov went on as he underscored that the upcoming event would be "exclusively a political dialogue." "We are going to issue a statement after the meeting," he concluded.

The Moscow-format meeting will be held on September 29 in Kazan. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the event would focus on the situation in Afghanistan, inter-Afghan reconciliation, the provision of regional security and post-conflict reconstruction in the country. According to Zakharova, the parties are expected to adopt a joint statement following the event. Ahead of the meeting, Kabulov told TASS that no US officials had been invited to attend as observers. According to him, the expanded troika on Afghanistan involving China, Pakistan, Russia and the United States was essentially non-functional now.

The Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan brings together China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The previous meeting was held last November.

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