Pavel E. Felgenhauer writes for Jamestown Foundation: On July 8, a high-ranking Taliban delegation came to Moscow and held talks with Zamir Kabulov, a former ambassador to Kabul, the Kremlin’s special envoy on Afghanistan and a department chief in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Apparently, the Taliban representatives hoped to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, but that did not happen. The visit had a distinctly absurdist flavor since, as of 2003, the Taliban is officially designated a “terrorist organization forbidden in Russia.” During the second Chechen war, in 1999–2000 the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban-controlled) provided the Chechen rebels with money and weapons; and in 2000, the Taliban authorities in Kabul officially recognized Chechnya’s independence from Russia. Moscow, in turn, supported the United States’ 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, which ousted the Taliban from the capital. Today, history has gone full circle: The US is withdrawing, the Taliban has announced it is restoring the Islamic Emirate, and Moscow seems sympathetic. The Taliban has asked Moscow to discontinue sanctions against the group and help remove it from the United Nations Security Council terrorist list. The request has not been officially granted, though Kabulov told journalists that would be a logical step to take (Znak, July 12).
go to Jamestown Foundation website: Amidst Taliban Gains, Russian Strategic Assets Threatened in Central Asia – Jamestown
