Vladimir Putin warns of hasty recognition of Taliban power
For the Russian president, it is advisable to work with the new masters of Afghanistan, without granting them official recognition too quickly. Moscow wants the Afghan government to open up to different sections of society.
“We should not rush in terms of recognizing the Taliban at the official level,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on October 15 at a virtual summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Community of Independent States (CIS), abounding in the direction expressed by his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. This caution, according to the Russian leader, should not prevent relations with the new masters of Afghanistan: “We understand that we must work with them”, he underlined, advocating a continuation of the “process of reconciliation in Afghanistan ”and the normalization of the situation there.
Since the resumption of power by the Islamist group in mid-August, Russia – like other great powers like the United States – has been defending a national dialogue between the various components of Afghanistan. After the capture of Kabul, the Taliban promised an “inclusive Islamic government”, which would represent “all Afghans”.
“The transitional government set up by the Taliban unfortunately does not represent all layers of Afghan society,” said Vladimir Putin, noting, however, that “an intention to hold general elections” had been announced and that measures were being taken. taken “to normalize the functioning of public administration”. “We are going, with the CIS countries, to monitor this process so that the acts correspond to the promises”, he said, referring to this organization bringing together states resulting from the breakup of the USSR.
Security threat posed by Daesh
During this same virtual summit of the CIS countries, the Russian president pointed out the threat posed by the terrorist group Daesh in Afghanistan, a few days of diplomatic meetings in Moscow on the state of the country, in particular with the Taliban. “According to our information, the number of Daesh fighters is around 2,000. Their leaders are preparing plans to extend their influence in the countries of Central Asia and Russian regions by stoking ethno-confessional conflicts and religious hatred” , he declared, while the local branch of Daesh, the Islamic State – Khorasan (EI-K), claimed responsibility for a series of attacks intended to destabilize the “emirate” proclaimed by the Taliban.
In addition to this worrying security context, Afghanistan remains economically paralyzed since the return of the Taliban to power and the immediate freeze of all the country’s assets and international aid which keeps the country on a drip. On the brink of a serious humanitarian crisis, a third of the Afghan population is threatened with famine, according to the United Nations.
