Developing a working dialogue with the Taliban (representatives of the radical Taliban movement banned in the Russian Federation) as the dominant internal political force in Afghanistan is in the region's interests, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday speaking at the Russian-Tajik Slavonic University.
"We believe that building a working dialogue with the Taliban as currently the dominant internal political force in Afghanistan without any alternative meets the interests of security and economic development of the region, as well as the goals of inter-Afghan national reconciliation, which the current authorities in Kabul are constantly pushing for," Lavrov said.
The minister stressed that until certain conditions are met, Moscow cannot talk about officially recognizing the Taliban government. "As I said, these commitments included forming an ethnically and politically balanced government, stepping up measures to combat terrorism and drug trafficking, and ensuring basic human rights for all peoples living in Afghanistan, including Tajiks. In our contacts with representatives of the Taliban, and we have them quite regularly, we encourage them to speed up resolving these tasks declared to the whole world," he added.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS