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Afghanistan is grateful to Russia for support — Taliban's chief logistics officer

Syed Abdul Basir Saberi noted that internationally, his country was open to communication with all countries

MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. Afghanistan is grateful to Russia for its readiness for cooperation and support, General Syed Abdul Basir Saberi, the head of the Defense Ministry's logistics department in the Taliban government (the radical Taliban movement is banned in Russia, recognized as a terrorist organization), told TASS in an interview.

"Russia has almost recognized us. So many times it has helped [Afghanistan], so many times it has invited us to conferences [on resolving the situation in Afghanistan]. And now it keeps helping [the country]. We are very grateful that it is helping us," he said.

The Afghan general noted that internationally, his country was open to communication with all countries.

"Should someone come to us with evil intentions, we will fight back. If someone comes to us with good intentions, we will reciprocate. We have always been in favor of diplomatic relations. We will not let anyone violate our interests, but we also want to live in peace," he added.

On July 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin, answering journalists' questions after the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana, said that Moscow supported the idea of resuming the SCO-Afghanistan contact group, as it would contribute to the normalization of the situation in that country. Putin also said that Russia was in touch with the Taliban (banned in Russia), but the date of possible recognition and full membership of the SCO depended on the development of the situation.

The full text of the interview is available on the TASS website:

https://tass.com/world/1835611.

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