The talks came as Moscow tries to maintain its influence in Central Asia, accusing the West of “complete failure” in the region.
Moscow has since 2017 hosted talks with the Taliban and other representatives from other Afghan factions, China, Pakistan, Iran, India and the former Soviet nations in Central Asia. Taliban representatives were not at the last meeting, in November. No other Afghan factions attended Friday’s talks.
Kabulov, the Kremlin envoy, has previously said that international recognition of the Taliban will hinge on the inclusiveness of their government and theirRussia had worked for years to establish contacts with the Taliban, even though it designated the group a terror organization in 2003 and never took it off the list.
“Afghanistan doesn’t prescribe forms of governance to others, so we expect regional countries to engage with the Islamic Emirate rather than give prescriptions for the formation of a government in Afghanistan,” he said in Kazan. The Taliban call their administration the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
He invited people to come and see Afghanistan for themselves, and asserted that “tourists, diplomats, aid workers, journalists and researchers” travel to the country with confidence and roam freely.
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