Russia says its Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov will meet Taliban representatives to ensure the security of the Russian embassy in Afghanistan.
In an interview Russian Presidential envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said, “Our ambassador is in contact with representatives of the Taliban leadership. Tomorrow (Tuesday), as he told me just ten minutes ago, he will meet with the coordinator from the Taliban leadership for ensuring security, including our embassy.”
The Russian ambassador will discuss the details of the external protection of the embassy with the Taliban representative.
The diplomat added that there are currently around 100 people in the Russian embassy in Kabul, and some of them will be evacuated.
Zamir Kabulov also stressed that “the Russian leadership will make a decision on recognizing the regime of the Taliban movement, depending on how responsibly they will govern the country.”
“No one is going to hurry in this regard. The recognition or the non-recognition will depend on the behavior of the new authorities. We will watch closely how responsibly they will govern the country in the near future. Following these results, the Russian leadership will make the necessary conclusions.”
According to him, Russia has no reason to believe that Afghanistan will turn into a new reincarnation of the Islamic State under the rule of the Taliban.
“No, I don’t have such concerns, as I saw how the Taliban — unlike the Americans and NATO, including the fleeing Afghan government [which] did not fight ISIS, but in some cases even pandered ISIS — fought them. They fought mercilessly. Representatives of the Taliban’s top leadership have repeatedly told me that they have only one thing to tell the ISIS — they will not take prisoners,” he noted while talking to a Russian radio station.
Taliban militants entered Kabul on Sunday without a fight and occupied abandoned government offices.
