Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today that the Taliban movement is “the real power” in Afghanistan and that the potential removal of the organization from Moscow's list of banned organizations reflects “objective reality”, Reuters reported, citing TASS, BTA reports.
„They [the Taliban – ed.] are the real power. "Afghanistan is not indifferent to us," Lavrov said, commenting on the initiative for the possible exclusion of the Taliban from Russia's list of terrorist organizations. “This is not indifferent to our allies, above all in Central Asia”, added the Russian Foreign Minister.
At the same time, he pointed out that “The UN Security Council has not declared the Taliban a terrorist organization”. “There are 12-15 specific individuals on the list of terrorists there,” Lavrov specified, quoted by TASS.
Earlier, the director of the Second Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Zamir Kabulov, said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice reported to President Vladimir Putin that the Taliban may be removed from the list of banned organizations. He also reported that Russia had extended an invitation to the Taliban to participate in the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.