No decision yet on recognising Taliban: Russia

Moscow has made no decisions yet whether it should recognize the Taliban (outlawed in Russia), Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Tuesday.

"You know that no decisions to recognize the Taliban have been made so far. Also, you know that we are keeping a close watch on what is happening there. What is most important, we are trying to understand to what extent the Taliban's promises and statements will correlate with their future actions," Peskov said, when asked for a comment on the Taliban's invitation to Russia to participate in a ceremony of presenting Afghanistan's new government.

Peskov stressed that it was important for Moscow to realize what the political system in Kabul under the Taliban would look like "in systemic and personal terms."


The Taliban's spokesman told Al Jazeera on Monday the Taliban had invited Russia, and also Turkey, China, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar to participate in ceremonies where Afghanistan's new government would be presented.

Meanwhile Russia’s Foreign Ministry has asked the G7 political forum to clear up “what they want from themselves and the world around them” after Moscow was approached to join a meeting on the situation in Afghanistan.

MFA spokesperson Maria Zakharova was speaking to the TASS news agency after Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a TV program that the G7 foreign ministers would be meeting with their counterparts from China and Russia on September 8 to discuss a joint response to the crisis.