Taliban welcomed to Russia at international conference

Published on : 10/20/2021 – 10:21

After a meeting in Qatar with the West and then a meeting in Turkey last week, the Taliban continue their diplomatic ballet in Russia. Moscow is to receive the Taliban Abdul Salam Hanafi on Wednesday, October 20, on the occasion of a meeting with a dozen countries including China, Pakistan and Iran.

During this meeting, the first of its kind since the change of regime in Afghanistan, Moscow wishes to pose as the protector of the region and convey to the Taliban its concern about the rise of jihadist groups and the danger of a humanitarian crisis.

“An attempt to figure out what’s going on”

For Russian diplomacy, it will above all be a question of “the politico-military situation in Afghanistan and the formation of a government” bringing together beyond the movement in charge of the country.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has presented the meeting as an “attempt to understand what is happening”. Because since their lightning return to power in August, Taliban face threat from more radical groups than themselves, in particular the bloody attacks by the Islamic State group – Khorasan (EI-K).

Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials expressed concern last week about the Taliban’s ability to stabilize the country and prevent the anchoring of jihadist groups with cross-border ambitions.

The Russian president estimated that some of them were already preparing “plans to extend their influence in the countries of Central Asia and Russian regions”.

If Russia has mocked the humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan of the United States, its great geopolitical rival, it fears to see this chaos spreading on its southern flank in Central Asia, a strategic region rich in raw materials. Moscow has also stepped up in recent months military maneuvers on the Afghan border with its regional allies, also strengthening its base in Tajikistan. China has also carried out exercises in the region.

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The concern of a humanitarian crisis

In addition, the Russians may have in mind that the current situation is not unrelated to the Soviet invasion (1979-1989), which marked the beginning of decades of wars in Afghanistan.

The other theme of the Moscow talks will concern the risk of “a humanitarian crisis”, while the Taliban, under international sanctions, do not have the funds to run the banks and pay salaries.

For Alexandre Sternik, a senior official in Russian diplomacy, quoted by the Ria Novosti agency, the situation is such that “the Taliban, for lack of financial means, are losing their anti-terrorist potential, as evidenced by the attacks”.

During a meeting with Western diplomats in Qatar in mid-October, Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban in charge of diplomacy, warned that “the weakening of the Afghan government is in no one’s interest”, citing the risk security and that of a migratory exodus.

Russians, Turks, Iranians, Europeans: everyone is keen to avoid a refugee crisis. Vladimir Poutine considers, moreover, that the jihadists would take the opportunity to spread their men in Central Asia and Russia.

Zamir Kaboulov, the Kremlin’s envoy for Afghanistan, noted in this context that “the period of euphoria” of the new masters of Kabul had passed.

The Russian authorities have been talking to the Taliban, a movement that has been banned in Russia for years, but they do not immediately intend to recognize them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Since August, Moscow has been indulgent, even laudatory when it comes to the Taliban. But she also hammered home that stabilizing the country required involving other Afghan factions in the exercise of power.

At the same time, most of the countries of ex-Soviet Central Asia have established relations with the Taliban, like Uzbekistan, with whom there has been recent discussion of trade and humanitarian aid.

With AFP