Taliban-ruled Afghanistan should join the international order sooner said Russian President Vladimir Putin today. He added that sooner Afghanistan, now under Taliban, control enters the community of civilized nations, easier it will be for the group to attain international recognition and credibility. Also, Putin asserts that an internationally recognized Taliban-ruled Afghanistan will be conducive for regional stability.
Read more: Will stabilising Afghanistan promise regional influence to both Russia and China?
Civilized Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is conducive for Afghan-Russia ties
Russia has no interest in Afghanistan’s disintegration because “there will be no one to talk to then,” Putin told an audience Friday at the annual Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, in response to a question on whether the Kremlin will recognize the Taliban regime.
“You need to think about the fact that the sooner the Taliban enters, so to speak, the community of civilized nations, the easier it will be to enter into contact, communicate and somehow influence and ask some questions,” Putin said.
Russia’s role in formation of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
Russia has courted the Taliban in recent years, inviting its leaders repeatedly to Moscow for talks even as the Kremlin has outlawed the group as a terrorist organization. Like China, Russia has kept open its embassy in Kabul as the U.S. and its western allies fled in the scramble to evacuate after the Taliban’s lightning takeover of Afghanistan.
A peaceful Afghanistan is conducive for Russia to extent its influence in Central Asia which is the hydrocarbon hub. Influence in Afghanistan and Central Asia is beneficial for both China and Russia to satisfy their growing energy needs and extend their geopolitical clout in the region.
Putin asserts that a disintegrated Afghanistan is of no use for them. The country desires that Taliban-ruled Afghanistan should step in the queue of civilized nations and embark on diplomatic trajectory for further collaboration on areas of mutual interests.
Read more: How do Russia, Pakistan, China, Iran and India view the Taliban’s rise in Afghanistan?