Russian ambassador to Kabul Dmitry Zhirnov said that he discussed security issues of the Russian embassy at a meeting with representatives of the Taliban (banned in Russia).
"The meeting was devoted exclusively to embassy security issues," he said on the Russia-24 television channel. - "There were representatives of the senior Taliban in the city who were accepting the surrender of the remnants of the self-dissolved Afghan national security forces."
As the ambassador noted, the meeting was positive and constructive, the Taliban once again guaranteed the security of the Russian embassy. "The Taliban representatives told us that the Taliban have the friendliest and the best approach to Russia. They confirmed to us the embassy's security guarantees, all our more specific questions related to specifying the whole set of aspects related to security were answered - yes," Zhirnov added.
According to the diplomat, the Taliban assured that there would be no obstacles to the embassy's activities. "That is, there will be no deterioration of the status compared to the previous government, all our needs will be met," the ambassador continued.
US diplomats
Russian diplomats on Tuesday contacted US embassy representatives who had moved to Kabul airport, he said.
"The Westerners got scared and partly downsized, partly moved to the airport. We called the American embassy there today. The right person answered the phone, and we verified everything we needed to verify with them. It's fine," he said.
"They're working there. It's not that they're waiting for a flight to leave, they just moved there to some premises," the diplomat added. Zhirnov admitted that there are "watchmen" left on the territory of the US embassy in Kabul, but all diplomats in contact with their Russian counterparts, he said, are at the airport.
The head of the Russian diplomatic mission noted that the embassies of Pakistan and China continue to work "in an absolutely normal mode" in Kabul: "The Chinese ambassador often calls me to check on some questions".
Looters in Kabul
The Taliban had caught 130 looters the previous day and were actively countering looting activities amid general political destabilization in the country, Zhirnov said. "The main problem here is looters, criminals," the diplomat pointed out. - "They (Taliban) yesterday caught 130 looters. They don't waste time talking to looters. They are tough with the criminals; they can shoot them. They are tough on rapists and thieves too. And if there is an armed robbery, the more so. Everything is very tough, and evidently this has had an effect".
The head of the Russian diplomatic mission admitted that he did not expect any quick results in the restoration of order in the country. "I was wrong in my forecast here. I thought that the pacification of the situation would take maybe a week or ten days," Zhirnov noted. - "But once they (the Taliban) entered the city, everything calmed down".
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Facebook of the Russian Embassy in Afghanistan
Based on materials from TASS