Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the decision to remove the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations should be made at the United Nations level, and Russia's position is to work in this direction.
Screenshot of TASS report
Speaking at a meeting of the Valdai International Debating Club, Putin said: "The decision to include the Taliban in the list of terrorist organizations is made at the Level of the United Nations, and the decision to remove the Taliban from the list of Terrorist Organizations should also be made at the United Nations level, and Russia's position is to work in this direction." ”
It is understood that the Taliban is designated as a terrorist organization in Russia and is prohibited from operating in Russia.
Putin at the Valdai Conference (Tuss TASS)
According to The Russian Satellite Network, Russia's deputy minister for counterterrorism, Seromolotov, has said that Russia will not rush to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations or recognize the new Afghan government. "We will use the practical measures of the new Afghan government and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council to determine the direction," the report said. ”
Seromorotov also said that if Russia wants to make any changes, it must enact a new decree, "Russia has always believed in abiding by international law and the Charter of the United Nations." We will not violate established rules and order," he said.
Putin added at the meeting, "We should ultimately make this decision as we have done with the Taliban on the list." ”
In the dialogue session that evening, Zhou Bo and Putin, researchers at the Center for Strategic and Security Studies of Tsinghua University and special experts of the China Forum, also conducted video Q&A to discuss the Afghan issue.
In response to Zhou Bo's suggestion that the SCO can play a role in the fight in Afghanistan, Putin believes that it is very important to carry out this work within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which can allocate the necessary resources and create conditions to make Afghanistan more stable. But the NATO countries that are most responsible for the situation in Afghanistan are the NATO countries that have been fighting there for 20 years, who have basic responsibility for the country's developments, "In my opinion, the first thing they should do is to unfreeze Afghan assets and give Afghanistan a chance to solve social and economic problems." ”
frequency:
Mr. President, I am honoured to ask you a question. First of all, I thank you for giving me this opportunity. I would like to ask a question about Afghanistan, which is in the heart of the SCO, and if there is a problem in Afghanistan, the SCO will have a problem. Now that the United States has withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan and China and Russia jointly lead the SCO, how can we unite other SCO countries and help Afghanistan achieve political stability and economic development?
Putin:
This is one of the most pressing issues of our time — the situation in Afghanistan is grave. As you know, we just had the "Moscow talks on Afghanistan" with the representatives of the Taliban. China's active good offices on the Afghan issue are very important to all of us. Although [Afghanistan] is not on our borders, a close-knit, peaceful and developing Afghanistan is very important and not a source of terrorism and radicalism of all kinds.
We can now see what is happening in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, terrorist groups, including the Islamic State, still exist, and there are victims in the Taliban, who are also trying to get rid of these militants. This is very critical for us — for Russia and China , for ensuring the stability of the situation.
In order to achieve this, we must help Afghanistan to recover its economy, and another important problem is drug trafficking: as we all know, 90 per cent of opium comes from Afghanistan. What would terrorists do if they don't have the money? They cannot finance terrorist activities.
The Taliban also need money. So while it is vital that we participate in these processes — China, Russia and the rest of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization — the countries that bear the primary responsibility for what is happening there are those that have been fighting there for 20 years. In my view, the first thing they have to do is to unfrozen Afghan assets and give Afghanistan a chance to solve its social and economic problems.
For our part, there are our major projects there, as well as issues related to our internal security, and our special units are in contact with the relevant Afghan institutions. For us, it is very important to carry out this work within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, because Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are in close proximity to Afghanistan. In Tajikistan we have a military base, built on the basis of the 201st Division, which was there during the Soviet period.
That is why we will continue to work actively with China at the bilateral level, that is, between the relevant agencies and within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to allocate the necessary resources and create the conditions so that our citizens will feel safe no matter what happens in Afghanistan.
Zhou Bo and Putin conducted a video connection Q&A
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.