Russia Refuses to Recognize Taliban, Hosts Int'nal Talks on Afghanistan

 Russia's government confirmed that the agenda of international talks on the situation in Afghanistan, hosted by Moscow, today, Wednesday, will not include the issue of recognizing the "Taliban" movement as a legitimate authority in this country.

Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, told reporters upon his arrival at the venue of the third round of the "Moscow Formula" talks on Afghanistan, in response to a question whether the issue of recognizing the "Taliban" would be discussed during today's meeting talk about it.

The Russian diplomat indicated that Moscow is currently working on organizing a new evacuation flight from Kabul and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, pledging to officially announce this.

Zhirnov stated that the "Taliban", which is on the list of terrorist organizations in Russia, did not ask Moscow for any military support, stressing that this is completely out of the scope of discussion.

It is worth noting that representatives from Russia, Iran, Pakistan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan will participate in today's meeting in Moscow, "the Moscow Formula", in addition to a high-level delegation from the "Taliban".

It is expected that today's meeting will focus on the prospects for the development of the military and political situation in Afghanistan and international efforts aimed at avoiding a humanitarian crisis for this country.

It is worth noting that a new round of Afghan talks in the so-called "Moscow Formula", which will continue, started in the Russian capital, Moscow, today, Wednesday, 4 days.

At the opening of the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave a speech in the presence of the media, before the start of the closed meeting between the delegations participating in the talks.

This is the first meeting within the "Moscow formula" after the "Taliban" took control of power in Afghanistan last August.