MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Moscow maintains an active dialogue with the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia), currently in power in Afghanistan, in order to resolve pressing issues, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"The fact is that this is our neighboring country. In one form or another, we maintain communication with them. We have to resolve pressing issues, which also requires dialogue. In fact, we are in contact with them just like everyone else. They are actually the ones who are in power in Afghanistan," Peskov said in response to a question about the current state of relations with the Taliban.
When asked to comment on a Russian Foreign Ministry statement about possibly removing the Taliban from the terrorist blacklist, Peskov said: "You have said yourself that the option is under consideration. Let’s wait until this process ends; then we can talk about the position [of the Kremlin]."
A Foreign Ministry official earlier told TASS that the possibility of removing the terrorist tag from the Taliban was on the table and it would be up to Russia’s top leadership to make a final decision.
Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov, who also serves as director of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asia Department, told TASS that a Taliban delegation had been invited to take part in the "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum" scheduled to take place in the city of Kazan on May 14-19.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has no information about whether the Taliban will send this delegation to the KazanForum 2024 event, Peskov noted. "We aren’t in the loop here. I can’t confirm this at the moment because I simply don’t have information on the matter," he said.