MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/: Russia is implementing the United Nations Security Council resolution when it holds contacts with the Taliban (a radical movement outlawed in Russia), which is listed as a participant in the intra-Afghan talks in this resolution, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.
"The Taliban movement is outlawed in our country as an organization. The matter is that Russia has repeatedly stressed that it doesn’t support, moreover, it reiterates its commitment to fight against international terrorism and condemns any terrorist activities, including the Taliban movement," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel.
"But there is a small but important nuance. The Taliban movement is part of the intra-Afghan dialogue and the UN Security Council called on all countries to promote such dialogue. The Security Council resolution of March 2020 mentions the Taliban movement in this capacity. We only implement the Security Council resolution [by holding contacts with the Taliban]. We supported it [the resolution] as a country and we implement it in practice," she said.
She slammed media criticism of Russia’s contacts with the Taliban as a political contract. "We all are different people. We may and must have different views, including political views. It is normal, it is good as a matter of fact. The matter is that facts must not be twisted. They are not political views. <…> law is law. Of course, it can be enforced, it can be interpreted. But one must know key international legal documents," Zakharova noted.
Earlier, a delegation of the Taliban Qatar political office visited Moscow. Russian president’s special envoy for Afghanistan and director of the foreign ministry’s second Asia department Zamir Kabulov met with the delegation. The Russian foreign ministry said after the meeting that the Taliban had pledged not to violate the borders of Central Asian countries and guarantee security of foreign diplomatic missions in Afghanistan.
