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Friday, March 29, 2024

Russia to establish relations with new Taliban leaders: Zamir Kabulov

Russian President Putin's spokesperson expressed desire for Russia to establish relations with the Taliban and help in rebuilding Afghanistan. Also, Russia is engaged in conducting military drills on Afghan border to circumvent security risks.

President Vladimir Putin’s special representative on Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said on Monday that Russia is working to establish relations with the Afghanistan’s new Taliban leaders. This statement came in the wake when Afghanistan is undergoing the largest evacuation process with the deadline of August 31st for the US troops’ final withdrawal.

Russia to engage in Afghan rebuilding process

As pointed by Putin’s spokesperson, Russia desires to establish relations with new Afghan Taliban leaders and is ready to help them in rebuilding Afghanistan’s economy. He stated the need for collaboration among countries to rebuild Afghanistan’s war-ravaged economy which suffered the brunt of aggression and violence for 40 years. He urged Western nations not to freeze the Afghan government’s financial assets.

“We are establishing ties (with Taliban officials), our embassy in Kabul is working quite actively on this,” he told Russian state television. “We have had such contacts for a long time and we will work further on them.”

Read more: How do Russia, Pakistan, China, Iran and India view the Taliban’s rise in Afghanistan?

Extra evacuation flights for Russian citizens

Russia’s embassy in Kabul said on Monday it was laying on extra evacuation flights from Afghanistan, while Russian troops carried out military drills close to the Afghan border amid heightened regional security risks. Ensuring border security is one of the ways through which Russia aims to establish relations with Afghan new Taliban leaders.

It was not clear whether the extra flights would continue past a Tuesday deadline agreed between U.S. President Joe Biden and the Taliban for the withdrawal of the U.S. troops who have led security at the airport since the Western-backed government collapsed.

Russia’s embassy remained operational in Kabul after Western diplomats rebased to the airport following the Taliban takeover of the capital on Aug. 15.

The embassy said in a series of tweets that extra evacuation flights would be open to Russian citizens and residents as well as nationals of countries in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a Moscow-led post-Soviet security bloc.

Russia evacuated about 360 people last week and Interfax on Monday quoted a representative of the Afghan disapora center in Russia as saying 500 Afghans may also be eligible as students, residents or work permit holders.

Read more: Will stabilising Afghanistan promise regional influence to both Russia and China?

Military drills to circumvent security risks at Afghan border

Meanwhile, Russia’s defense ministry said around 500 Russian motorized infantry troops from Russia’s military base in Tajikistan were carrying out drills in the mountains near the Afghan border, according to an Interfax report.

The ministry said the drills involved test fire from a S-300 air defense system in a simulated attack on the base.

They are the third set of drills by Russia close to the Afghan border this month. Next month, the CSTO will hold another exercise in Kyrgyzstan which hosts a Russian military airbase.

Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu said last week Moscow would work more closely with CSTO members as the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan raises regional security risks.