MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. The relations between Afghanistan and Russia could now be better than under former President Ashraf Ghani, Habib-ur-Rahman Hekmatyar, chief of the Hezb-e-Islami party headquarters told TASS on Wednesday.
"I can say that whatever happens at least the relations between Afghanistan and Russia will be in a better situation than the relations with the last system," he believes.
He noted that "Afghanistan was the biggest base of the US" in the past 20 years. "They used to give funds to the national army and security sector and every national program like elections were sponsored by them, nothing was hidden from them in the security sector or other administration. In this case, as I said earlier, it was natural that the Russian Federation had no trust in them," Hekmatyar added.
According to the chief of the Hezb-e-Islami party headquarters, the opposition of the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) to the Islamic State can facilitate dialogue with Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that Moscow views the terrorist threat in Afghanistan as high due to the presence of Islamic State fighters in the country. On August 16, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said that Russia is not concerned that Afghanistan would resemble the Islamic State under the Taliban. According to him, "Representatives of the highest Taliban leadership were telling me that they only have this to say to ISIS: there will be no captives."
After the administration of US President Joe Biden announced the end of Washington’s 20-year-long military operation in Afghanistan and embarked on withdrawing its troops, the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) went on an offensive against Afghan government forces. On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance, and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said he had stepped down to prevent any bloodshed and subsequently fled the country. Vice President Amrullah Saleh said that under the constitution, he would become "the caretaker president" in the absence of the president and called for armed resistance against the Taliban. At present, Western nations are evacuating their citizens and embassy staff.