‘Russia won’t remove Taliban from list’

KABUL (Khaama Press): Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan, stated that while he respects Kazakhstan’s decision to remove the Taliban from the list of terrorist groups, Moscow has no intention of doing the same.

Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan recently made these remarks in an interview with Russian NCA radio.

Mr. Kabulov emphasized that the Taliban has not changed, and Russia is not negotiating the removal of the Taliban from the list of banned groups.

The special representative of the President of Russia for Afghanistan has articulated Russia’s stance on the Taliban administration at a time when Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry unexpectedly removed the Taliban from its list of banned terrorist groups.

The ministry’s announcement was published on Friday, stating that Kazakhstan’s decision to remove the Taliban from the terrorist groups’ list was in accordance with a United Nations Security Council resolution.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry stated, “The Republic of Kazakhstan periodically reviews its national list of banned terrorist organizations to update it. As part of this process, it was decided to remove the Taliban group in accordance with the practices of the United Nations.”

However, Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy, commented, “This is the sovereign right of Kazakhstan. We understand and respect this decision. However, we continue to view the Taliban movement as it was, with no current changes.”