Envoy: ‘Russian leadership’ decides to delist Taliban as terrorist group

ISLAMABAD — Russia reported Friday that a “principal decision” had already been made to remove Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban from Moscow’s list of terrorist organizations.

Zamir Kabulov, the Russian presidential envoy for the South Asian nation, was quoted by state-run TASS news agency as saying that the foreign ministry and national security agencies “are putting finishing legal touches” on the Taliban’s delisting in line with federal laws.

“A principal decision on this has already been made by the Russian leadership,” said Kabulov. “Hopefully, the final decision will be announced soon.”

The remarks were reported on the same day that Moscow hosted a conference of regional countries to discuss Afghanistan, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presiding over the proceedings.

Lavrov later held bilateral talks with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who led his delegation at Friday’s multilateral event in the Russian capital, organized under the Moscow Format platform.

“We firmly believe in the importance of maintaining a pragmatic dialogue with the current Afghan government,” Lavrov said in his inaugural speech to delegates from countries such as China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.

“Moscow will continue to develop political, trade, and economic ties with Kabul,” Lavrov pledged.

Russia launched the Moscow Format in 2017 and it has since become a regular platform for discussing challenges facing impoverished, war-torn Afghanistan.

Muttaqi, in his broadcast address to Friday’s gathering, welcomed Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan’s recent announcements that they will remove the Taliban from their lists of outlawed groups.

“We also appreciate the positive remarks [made] by the high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation in this regard and hope to see more effective steps soon,” said the Taliban chief diplomat.

Russia’s involvement in Afghanistan has been tumultuous. The Soviet army entered the country in 1979 to help a pro-Moscow government in Kabul but pulled out a decade later due to heavy losses inflicted by U.S.-backed Afghan insurgents, or mujahideen.

Moscow has developed close informal ties with the Taliban since they regained power in Afghanistan three years ago after the United States and NATO forces withdrew ending 20 years of war.

President Vladimir Putin stated in July that Russia considered the Taliban an ally in the fight against terrorism. The former Afghan insurgent group has been on the Russian list of terrorist organizations since 2003.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov praised the Taliban for combating narcotics in Afghanistan and fighting a regional Islamic State affiliate known as IS-Khorasan (IS-K).

“We support the Afghan authorities’ resolve to combat the terrorist threat,” he told the conference Friday.

Muttaqi called on all regional countries “to cooperate in preventing the recruitment of their citizens by ISIS and then send them to Afghanistan and other countries to carry out subversive operations.” He used an acronym for IS-K, which the United Nations describes as the most significant terrorist regional threat emanating from Afghan soil.

The Taliban foreign minister did not name any country, but Kabul formally alleged last week that the terrorist group is orchestrating attacks from bases in Pakistan, charges officials in Islamabad have refuted as unfounded.

No country has officially recognized the de facto Taliban government, although China and the United Arab Emirates have formally accepted Taliban-appointed ambassadors.

Washington remains opposed to any step toward easing sanctions or moving toward recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan’s rightful government, saying Kabul must improve its human rights record to win international legitimacy and support.

“We will look for interest in any outcomes and deliverables from the upcoming Moscow Format meeting, but we do not participate,” Karen Decker, the head of the Doha-based U.S. diplomatic mission for Afghanistan, told reporters Thursday.

The U.S. has never attended a Moscow Format meeting because it is seen as a regional conversation, said Decker, who has also been tasked with overseeing Afghan diplomacy. 
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