Moscow: Russia will invite Taliban to international talks about Afghanistan scheduled for October 20 in Moscow, the Kremlin envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said Thursday.
Responding to questions from Russian journalists about whether representatives of the hardline group will be invited to negotiations involving China, India, Iran and Pakistan, Kabulov said: “Yes”.
Talks will follow the peak of the G20 in Afghanistan on October 12 which will try to help the state avoid humanitarian disasters after the Taliban takeover.
Kabulov was also asked whether Russia would provide assistance to Afghanistan, where the humanitarian crisis grew worse, a UN high official warned Wednesday.
Russia will do it, but the details are still decided, said Kabulov.
“This is being worked on,” he told reporters, said “cargo” was collected.
Moscow has moved to engage with the Taliban but stopped the recognition of the group, which was prohibited as a terrorist organization in Russia.
On Monday, Kabulov said Moscow would not “exclude” revised the UN sanctions regime against the Taliban.
“But at this stage we believe it is not wise to be in a hurry,” he said.
Russia has warned about members of the extremist group that exploits political chaos in Afghanistan to cross to neighboring countries as refugees.
Afghanistan shared the border with the former Soviet Tajikistan where Russia maintained the main military base.