Putin discussed the situation in Afghanistan with Asian security advisers

Vladimir Putin held a meeting in the Kremlin with the secretaries of the security councils of various countries on the Afghan problem. In addition to Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, the meeting was attended by representatives of India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

At the beginning of the meeting, Putin said that now there is a lot of conflict potential in the world, including near Russia – in the Ukrainian direction. “But this does not reduce the significance of the situation in Afghanistan. It has always been important for us, and today it is doubly important,” he said. “After the flight of American military forces from Afghanistan, the situation there is not getting any better,” Putin said. International terrorist organizations are becoming more active in Afghanistan, including Al-Qaeda (banned in the Russian Federation), which is building up its potential, the president said. According to him, Russia is concerned about attempts to use the situation in Afghanistan in order for “regional states to expand or build their infrastructure there, which they are going to create under the guise of combating international terrorism.” “Although these countries are doing nothing that would be required for a true fight against international terrorism,” he said.

Putin noted that the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is aggravating – 4 million people need urgent assistance. He especially stressed that drug trafficking is growing and the area under cultivation is increasing, in particular, 80% of the opiates of the world market are of Afghan origin. The President of Russia said that the situation is very complicated and “we are doing everything so that solutions are found.” Russia has established contacts with the leadership of Afghanistan, which has plans to implement major economic projects that could stabilize the situation in the Afghan economy, the president added. Then he gave the floor to Patrushev and his colleagues. The rest of the meeting was held behind closed doors for journalists.

Earlier that day, on February 8, Patrushev met with the secretaries of the Security Council. At this meeting, he called for strengthening the interaction of countries on the Afghan problem and expressed hope for the participation of Afghan representatives in this dialogue. Afghanistan has been controlled by the terrorist organization Taliban since September 2021. At this meeting, Patrushev said that the Afghan authorities “are reaping the fruits of the chaos left by the Americans, and the situation in the socio-economic sphere is rapidly degrading” (quoted by RIA Novosti). This is due, according to him, to the fact that the United States, Great Britain and their allies are blocking “the Afghan assets illegally frozen by them,” instead of sending funds to humanitarian needs.

Russia’s position on the decision to recognize the Taliban regime as a representative of the state of Afghanistan has not changed – it must be taken collectively, at least at the regional level, says Mohammad Omar Nessar, a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. If it depended only on Russia, she could take the appropriate step, the expert says. But it is constrained by the need to reach a consensus with the countries of the region on the Taliban issue, and there is none, reminds Nessar. From this follows the absence of representatives of the Taliban at today’s events in Moscow, despite Patrushev’s remark about the hope for the future participation of “Afghan representatives” in the relevant discussions. Moreover, the Taliban is sometimes present at smaller events, the orientalist notes. The movement towards recognition should be two-way – the Taliban are expected to “evolve”, break with old practices, cut ties with a number of terrorist groups, Nessar said.

Migration problems involve the flight of Afghans from their country, which was in the power of the Taliban, but basically this is a problem primarily of Iran, not Central Asia – there are sufficient barriers for this, the border is firmly guarded, Nessar said. In the field of drug trafficking, drug production and crops, which was mentioned at today’s event, the situation has not changed much over the two years of Taliban rule – there is rather a cooling of attention to this problem, since the same UN representatives have now reduced their presence and do not have accurate data about the problem, the expert concludes.

The US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan at the end of August 2021, which triggered the fall of the pro-Western Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Power in Kabul and most of the country’s territory was seized by representatives of the Taliban movement, who proclaimed the “restoration” of the 1996-2001 era. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. This state formation has not been recognized by any country – a member of the UN.

The conditions for possible recognition are the inclusion in the government of representatives of all ethno-national groups of the country, as well as breaking ties with other terrorist groups and protecting the rights and equality of women, which the Taliban have not done so far. Russia does not recognize the new regime in Kabul, but maintains contacts with it – the Taliban delegation attended SPIEF in 2022. In September of the same year, Reuters reported, citing a Taliban representative, that Moscow had agreed with Kabul on the supply of gasoline and diesel to Afghanistan , gas and grain. Later, the existence of such an agreement with the “Afghan side” was confirmed to TASS by the President’s special envoy for the country and director of the Second Asian Department of the Foreign Ministry, Zamir Kabulov.