The main result of the meeting on Afghanistan in the Moscow format on October 20 was the expression of a unified position of regional countries on resolving the situation in the country, the Russian President's special representative for Afghanistan and director of the second department for Asia at the Russian foreign ministry, Zamir Kabulov, said at an online conference on Monday.
"Among the main results of this event was the expression of a unified position by regional states both bordering directly with Afghanistan and those neighboring the region, their expectations from the new authorities of Afghanistan. This, of course, includes the issues of combating terrorism and drug crime, this is to ensure a more inclusive nature of the new Afghan authorities, the observance of basic human standards," he noted.
Question of recognizing the new government
Kabulov said that almost all participants in the Moscow-format meeting said they were ready to consider recognizing the new Afghan government. "It is clear that the delegation of Afghanistan came in the hope of gaining support for the official recognition of the new interim government of Afghanistan. Virtually all participants, with few exceptions, in this meeting stressed their willingness to seriously consider this issue, but as if in response to the positive response of these authorities on all relevant issues. On many of them [the Afghan authorities] reiterated their earlier stated positions. This includes terrorism, drug crime, and not using Afghan territory against the security of neighboring and other states. These were important points, so we agreed to continue working," he said.
The special representative of the president believes that the statement of the Moscow format will have a positive impact on the process of Taliban recognition. "Probably, it will have a positive effect," he said, answering a related question. - "President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin said about this, that everything is going in this direction. So it's not just a matter of time, but a matter of further behavior, the policy of the new Afghan authorities both inside and outside the country. Certainly, it creates a good basis to start moving towards recognition of the new authorities."
According to the diplomat, no deadline was set for the possible recognition of the Taliban. "This was not a task of the Moscow format," Kabulov pointed out.
Kabulov also said that Russia regrets that the Moscow format meeting on Afghanistan failed to ensure broad representation of other ethno-political forces, except the Taliban, in the Afghan delegation.
"We are only at the beginning of the journey; we will keep working. But at the end of the day, let's be respectful of the other state as we expect of ourselves. The last word on the composition of the delegation should remain with the Afghans," the diplomat added.
The special representative of the Russian President pointed out that the absence of representatives of other ethnic and political forces in the Afghan delegation has not affected the negotiations in Moscow in any way, since they had been known about it before.
Kabulov reminded that members of the Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation), which took power in Afghanistan, reacted "very positively" to the statement of Russian president Vladimir Putin who, during the meeting of the Valdai international club on October 21, admitted the possibility of removing the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations and emphasized that Moscow's position "will be in moving exactly in this direction".
The participants of the meeting in the Moscow format on October 20 stated the necessity of building cooperation with the authorities of the Islamic republic "regardless of the official recognition of the new Afghan government by the international community".
Kabulov also said that Russia is interested in holding a donor conference on Afghanistan as soon as possible under the aegis of the UN. All participants of the Moscow format agreed that such a conference should be held under the auspices of the UN, so we will work with the UN secretariat in New York," he said. - "Since we are passing the torch to them, they need to make up their minds. We, like all Afghans and regionalists, are interested in making this event happen as soon as possible, considering all the circumstances".
The diplomat reminded that at the donor meeting on Afghanistan in September "readiness to render some assistance to that country was expressed, but it was an urgent humanitarian aid". "We believe that the donor conference [under the auspices of the UN] should focus on broader tasks," he added.
Kabulov refrained from answering specifically when and where the donor conference would be held. "Let our [UN] colleagues determine, we will provide support," he summarized. - "Our premise is that the UN should offer a venue that is convenient for all participants."
Removal from the list of terrorist organizations
The final word on removing the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations should rest with the members of the UN Security Council (UNSC), said Kabulov. "Usually the formal initiative is taken by the members of the UN Security Council," the diplomat said. - "First we have to agree ourselves whether the Taliban have begun to meet the criteria that the world community expects of them. Our president also talked about this. We expect it, <...> the UN Security Council has the last word. It's a question of technicalities".
However, Kabulov urged not to get ahead of the story. "We have patiently explained to our Afghan guests in Moscow that they will have to meet the expectations of the world community and the diverse Afghan people," he pointed out. - "We have to be reasonable enough in our expectations and demands. And then it will be easier for us to encourage and persuade the new Afghan authorities to do that".
Freezing of foreign assets
The freezing of Afghanistan's assets in the US and EU is outrageous; they must be unfrozen, and Russia will pursue this solution, Kabulov said. "Of the $9.5 billion in state assets, more than 8 billion [are frozen] in the United States, and 1.5 billion, we are told, are frozen in Europe. This is absolutely outrageous; they should be unfrozen. Especially the people in Washington who are in favor of the well-being of the Afghan people are hypocrites, because the Taliban urgently need $300 million just to pay back wage arrears to state employees. Are they punishing the Afghan government or the people? It turns out they are punishing the second one," he noted.
Kabulov emphasized that the national reserves are not connected with the Taliban movement banned in the Russian Federation and belong to the Afghans. "This was reflected in the final document of the Moscow format. This has to be solved, and we will continue to seek [unfreezing] with other international partners," he added.
Kabulov believes that the reserves belonging to the Afghan people should be returned to them, because "if the West tries to strangle the new Afghan government with the 'bone hand of hunger,' it could lead to the development of the drug industry and arms trade from the territory of Afghanistan. "If that's what the West wants, they're on the right track. The impoverished Afghan population, the proportion of which grows daily, will have only two choices: to join destructive international terrorist groups to somehow earn a living, or to seek emigration to Europe on a mass scale, which, at least in rhetoric, is exactly what Europe opposes. If they want to do otherwise, they have to do everything to encourage Afghans to stay in their homeland, but to do that they have to be provided with emergency humanitarian aid in the first stage, and jobs in the second stage, so that the situation for each individual Afghan family is stable and predictable," he said.
Kabulov also recalled that huge stockpiles of weapons were left in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US military forces. "This is my speculation, but imagine that the Taliban would be approached by states with an interest in buying these weapons, and if international terrorist groups? When the Taliban don't have the means to supply the country, it might encourage them to think about it," he concluded.
The Moscow format was established in 2017 through a six-party consultation mechanism of special representatives from Russia, Afghanistan, India, Iran, China and Pakistan. At a meeting in late October, participants in the Moscow format called on the UN to convene an international donor conference on socio-economic assistance for post-conflict Afghanistan.
The Taliban launched a large-scale operation to take control of Afghanistan after the US announced in the spring of this year the decision to withdraw its armed forces from the country. On August 15, president of the Islamic republic Ashraf Ghani left the country and the radicals entered Kabul without a fight. On September 6, the movement announced that it had taken control of the entire Afghan territory and on September 7, it announced the composition of the provisional cabinet, whose legitimacy has not yet been recognized by any country.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS