Russian envoy to UN hints Moscow could drop sanctions on Taliban

UNITED NATIONS: Russian envoy to the UN Vasily Nebenzya suggested Monday that Moscow was considering dropping sanctions against the Taliban as the Afghan authorities met with representatives of the international community in Doha.

International envoys to Afghanistan, including Russia’s, were gathered for a two-day summit on the country’s future in Qatar at which the Taliban have pressed for sanctions to be dropped.

“(The Taliban) are the de facto authorities. (They) are not going to stop, and we’ve been saying consistently that you have to recognize this fact and deal with them as such because, whether you like it or not, this movement is running the country now. You cannot simply ignore that,” he said.

“On how far we are from removing them from the sanctions list on which they are now with Russia, I cannot tell you the definite answer, but I heard some talks about it,” Nebenzya said without giving further details.

The Taliban government in Kabul has not been officially recognized by any other government since it took power in 2021.

Russia like many countries, including the United States as well as the European Union, maintains sanctions on the Taliban, designating it a terrorist group.