MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/. The world is coming to realize that the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) is legitimately in charge in Afghanistan, something that Russia acknowledged long ago, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov told TASS.
"Of course, [the world] is becoming aware of this fact. And Russia was ahead of the curve here. Better late than never," Kabulov, who also serves as director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department, said when asked if the international community is aware of the fact that it has to do business with the Taliban as a government.
The Afghan crisis will be the focus of an upcoming UN meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha.
Commenting on Russia’s expectations ahead of the meeting, Kabulov said: "In our opinion, this meeting will be useful if it contributes to reviving close and constructive cooperation between the international community and the Afghan authorities, primarily for resolving the social and economic problems the country and its people are facing."
The Russian diplomat also said he would "most definitely" talk to the Taliban delegation on the sidelines of the coming meeting in Qatar. "We will communicate both on the sidelines [of the Doha meeting] and, certainly, in any other convenient formats," Kabulov said when asked if he plans to hold a bilateral meeting with the Taliban delegation.