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Taliban leadership’s ‘first steps’ remain to be seen, says Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov noted that Taliban members had already "formed some government agencies and started to appoint officials"

VLADIVOSTOK, September 2. /TASS/. The first steps that the leaders of the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) will take remain to be seen, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.

"We all have yet to see and understand the first steps of the Taliban leadership," he pointed out.

The Kremlin spokesman noted that Taliban members had already "formed some government agencies and started to appoint officials." "However, we’ll see what specific steps the Taliban will take as Afghanistan’s government," Peskov emphasized.

After the United States announced plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban embarked on a large-scale operation to seize control of the country. On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and fled the country. US troops have by now left Afghanistan, ending their 20-year-long presence in the country.