Recognition of Taliban not on Russia's current agenda, says Kremlin

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified that recognising the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan was not on Moscows "current agenda".

When questioned about the possibility of recognising Afghanistan's new authorities, Peskov told reporters on Wednesday: "It is not on the current agenda. We have said this many times. It is useless to make any forecasts," TAAS News Agency reported.

Peskov's clarification came a day after Russia's special ambassador to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said that Moscow might recognise the Taliban regime but would not follow other countries' lead.

In an interview with Channel One Russia on Tuesday, Kabulov stated that the first step toward recognition of the Islamic Emirate would the formation of an inclusive political government in Afghanistan, TOLO News reported.

"Such prospects do exist. The conditions were described by the Russian President (Vladimir Putin) and the Foreign Minister (Sergey Lavrov). Inclusive ethnopolitical government should be the first step towards this. We make no secret of this and we say so outright to our Afghan partners.

"As soon as this happens, there will be the basis for a serious discussion. We will act regardless of what the United States and everybody else may think," he said.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, no country has recognised the regime yet.