More than half of Afghanistan's territory is under the control of fighters of the radical Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation). This was stated on Thursday at an online briefing by Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Director of the Second Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"It's more than half in any case, unambiguously," he said, answering a question about the extent of the Taliban's control over the territory of Afghanistan.
At the same time, Kabulov noted that the Taliban are unlikely to be able to seize all of the country's territory.
He added that Russia is also concerned about the possibility of strengthening the positions of militants of the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS, banned in the Russian Federation) in northern Afghanistan.
"There are still many possible scenarios, and we are primarily concerned about the possibility that IS and similar international terrorist groups will use the chaos to strengthen their positions in northern Afghanistan to damage the security and stability of the Central Asian states," he said.
Kabulov pointed to the fact that the Taliban and IS are irreconcilable enemies. "If we call things by their proper names, it was the Taliban movement that fought and fought ISIS (the former name of IS) most actively and effectively in Afghanistan, unlike all others, including the current government and US-NATO forces. Therefore, the more the Taliban destroy ISIS, the easier the situation will be in the sense that you asked me," Kabulov added.
The level of drug trafficking from Afghanistan, Kabulov clarified, should not be linked to the political situation in the republic.
"The flows and volumes of opiates coming out of Afghanistan depend on the black market drug situation, which is controlled by criminal international elements, and the uncontrolled inflow and flow of too many drugs is hardly in the interests of these criminal groups," he said.
According to him, the current level of drug trafficking does not depend on political attitudes in the country.
Meeting in Doha
The next meeting of the expanded troika (Russia, US, China and Pakistan) on an Afghan peace settlement will be held in early August in Doha, Kabulov said.
"We are in constant contact by phone with my colleague [US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay] Khalilazd, who is now in Washington. We plan to meet with him and our Chinese and Pakistani counterparts in Doha next week for the next meeting of the expanded troika," the special presidential representative said.
"Beijing recently appointed a new special envoy of their foreign ministry for Afghanistan, whom I have not yet met, but I expect to see him in Doha on August 11. We will continue in-depth consultations both bilaterally and in the expanded troika and are ready for broader conversations with interested international players," he added.
Turkey's involvement
The Presidential Special Representative allowed that Turkey may become a participant in the peace process in the future. "Such a format already exists. Turkey is not part of it yet, but that doesn't mean it won't participate in the future," he said when asked if a multilateral format of talks on Afghanistan, similar to the Astana format on Syria, was possible with Turkey's participation.
"We have defined the criteria together with the Chinese, the Americans, the Pakistanis. As soon as we can successfully achieve the start of inter-Afghan negotiations, the next phase of international assistance will come, it will already be economic. Assistance to Afghanistan in restoring the socio-economic sphere," he added.
Kabulov also noted that Turkey's attempt to organize an international conference on Afghanistan in Istanbul has not yet yielded results. "Turkey agreed with the Americans, forgetting to inform Kabul, to take over the security and the operations of the Kabul International Airport, the diplomat said. - "We had our doubts about that. The Taliban have categorically denied and condemned that decision, saying Turkey remains a NATO member and therefore the arrangements about the withdrawal of all foreign forces apply there too".
Russian-American dialogue
Kabulov believes that the US-Russian dialogue on the Afghan settlement is developing positively. "The dialogue between Russia and the United States [on Afghanistan] is developing in a generally positive way," he said.
As Kabulov noted, the interests of Russia and the US on the Afghan settlement generally coincide. "The interests [of Russia and the US on the Afghan settlement] generally coincide, because we proceed from the understanding that no one is interested in turning Afghanistan again into a refuge for international terrorism, from which the Afghan people themselves and the entire world around them suffer first and foremost. In this sense, our goals coincide," he pointed out.
The Russian president's special representative for Afghanistan also stressed that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan is no longer a substantive conversation, since the main part of the American military has left the country. "The Americans have already left, this is not a substantive conversation," Kabulov noted. - "Russia is interested in Afghanistan settling down, being independent of anyone, independent, moderately self-sufficient and neutral".
US President Joe Biden announced on April 14 that he had decided to terminate the operation in Afghanistan, which has become the longest foreign military campaign in American history. The United States began this war in October 2001. The withdrawal of American troops began in May. The White House expects it to be completed by the end of August.
Russian influence in Afghanistan
Kabulov believes that Russia's strong regional influence in the current situation in Afghanistan will only grow stronger with the final withdrawal of American troops from the Islamic republic.
"Russia already has quite a strong influence in the region," he said when asked about a qualitative change in Moscow's position in the region after the Americans leave Afghanistan. - "It will objectively increase, especially in these turbulent conditions, because the support of our partners in the region is directly related to our national security interests. Their influence is objectively growing".
At the same time, Kabulov also noted that today there is no point in counting on a universal and only external mediator in a comprehensive settlement of the Afghan question. "Such a single country does not exist in nature. And the most influential external brokers are Russia, the United States, the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," he stressed.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Alexander Shcherbak / TASS
Based on materials from TASS