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Developments in Afghanistan

Taliban praise Russian authorities' statements on relations with Afghanistan — spokesman

Zabihullah Mujahid stated that the Taliban government has "extremely positive diplomatic and trading relations" with Russia

© Wandel Guides/Shutterstock

MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. The Afghan government formed by the radical Taliban movement (banned in Russia) assesses the latest statements of the Russian authorities on relations with Afghanistan as positive, the official spokesman of the Taliban government Zabihullah Mujahid has said in a commentary to TASS.

"Recently, Russian officials’ words have been positive. This shows that they want to keep interaction with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the name of the state used by the Taliban - TASS)," he said.

Mujahid stated that the Taliban government has "extremely positive diplomatic and trading relations" with Russia.

"With more trust and interaction, we will remove some obstacle [in relations]. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan aims to develop good relations with countries, including Russia," the Afghan official pointed out.

On May 27, Zamir Kabulov, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second Asia Department, told TASS that the Russian Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry had reported to President Vladimir Putin the Taliban could be removed from the list of terrorist organizations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the initiative "reflects the awareness of reality."

On May 28, Putin noted that it was necessary to build relations with the Taliban because they controlled Afghanistan and were the current authorities in that country. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev told TASS on Tuesday that Moscow was close to establishing full-fledged relations with the Taliban government. He emphasized that a great deal had changed in recent years: whereas earlier the Taliban were considered terrorist, now the US authorities can be called terrorists' accomplices.

Zakir Jalali, an adviser to the Taliban foreign minister, said on May 28 that Russia's possible removal of the movement from the list of terrorist organizations would dismantle obstacles to formal relations between Moscow and Kabul, which had already made remarkable progress since 2021. Jalali confirmed that the Taliban have been invited to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June.

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