Marina Kortunova
Press TV, Moscow
Minister Sergei Lavrov addressed the new Afghan authorities of the Taliban at the so-call Moscow Format talks on Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Lavrov said he discussed the fulfillment of the Taliban's promises to form an inclusive government, as well as to ensure the fundamental rights of Afghan citizens.
There were representatives of 10 countries of the region at the meeting, but the Taliban delegation was the largest - 11 people, including members of the transitional government.
The Moscow Format of consultations on Afghanistan was emerged in 2017 to build a peaceful dialogue between the former Afghan government and the Taliban. Now the situation has changed radically: the Taliban actually rule the country and this was their first visit to Moscow since coming to power.
Its representatives said that for the first time, the country has an inclusive government and that now 500,000 people are involved in the functioning of the country, many of whom worked in the state apparatus before. Taliban hopes that the international community will cooperate with the new cabinet of ministers and stress that there will be no threats from the territory of Afghanistan because the isolation of the country is not in the interests of anyone.
Russian president's special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov noted that the Taliban's authority will be recognized only when they at least partially fulfill the expectations, in particular, the observance of human rights. Meanwhile Afghanistan's closest neighbors are concerned about drug-making, illegal migration flows and terrorist groups.
Russia does not count on breakthrough decisions from the Moscow Format meeting, due to its long, evolutionary process. But no one is going to abandon efforts: on October 27, Tehran will host a meeting of Afghanistan's neighbors, and on November 10th, there will be a meeting of the national security councils of the countries in the region, hosted by India, with the participation of Russia, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.