Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that the Taliban is the real power in Afghanistan, according to Russian media.
They are the real power. We care about Afghanistan.
Lavrov made the statement while commenting on the possible removal of the Taliban from the list of terrorist organisations. The initiative “reflects a realisation of reality,” he added.
Our allies, first of all in Central Asia, are also not indifferent to it.
The minister recalled that “the UN Security Council has not declared the Taliban as a terrorist organisation,” specifying that the list “includes 12-15 specific characters.”
Earlier, the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the country could remove the Taliban from the list of banned organisations.
Russia also invited the Taliban to a major economic forum in St Petersburg scheduled for next month.
The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan after the US withdrew its troops from the region as part of NATO’s Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and Operation Resolute Support (Resolute Support Mission) in 2021.
