Russia has no plans yet to remove Taliban from list of banned organizations

23 July 2021


Russia has no plans yet to remove the Taliban ( banned in Russia)  from its list of banned organizations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.


"There is nothing new on the matter. If there is any news, we will let you know," he said in response to a question.


"Indeed, the Taliban movement is a tangible and quite powerful force that operates in Afghanistan," Peskov added.


Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that resolving the situation in Afghanistan required an inclusive dialogue involving all of the country’s political and ethnic groups, including the Taliban, and Russia was focused on that goal.


According to Peskov, Russia considers it important that the situation in Afghanistan does not threaten the perimeter of its partners' borders, primarily Tajikistan.


"It is important for us that whatever happens in Afghanistan does not pose a threat to the perimeter of the borders of our partners, primarily Tajikistan," he said.


On April 14, US President Joe Biden announced the decision to end the US military operation in Afghanistan and plans to withdraw the troops. After this, the situation in the country sharply worsened. As of mid-July 13, more than 95% of US troops left the country. At the same time, the Taliban, according to their representatives, were able to establish control over 85% of the territory of the republic, including the areas along the border with five countries - Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

Photo: Valery Sharifulin / TASS

Based on materials from TASS