Russia’s View Of New Afghan Government
China is already having dialogue with Afghanistan’s new government formed by the members of the Taliban which is outlawed in most of the countries.
According to Chinese Foreign Ministry, Beijing hopes that the new government will take into account people’s interests and act in accordance with the expectations of the international community.
With that in mind, the Chinese have not participated in the September 8-scheduled meeting of G7 foreign ministers on Afghanistan, where Russia and China were invited, calling it “a meeting for the sake of a meeting”.
Additionally, China announced it was going to provide an emergency aid package to Afghanistan to the tune of $30.9 million. On September 8, Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry also welcomed the creation of the Taliban government hoping that it will ensure a steady peace. Tajikistan has so far remained mum on the new government in Afghanistan.
Russia has officially not announced its evaluation of the Taliban government. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the contacts are being conducted through the embassy “in order to ensure the safety of our diplomats, and on other technical issues” while no other talks are planned and Russia plans to closely monitor the actions of the new government.
Russia is in no hurry to assess Afghanistan’s new government, Russia has also declined participation in G7 Foreign Ministers meet on Afghanistan.
Chief Researcher at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and professor with the Higher School of Economics Andrei Kazantsev thinks that China’s more active friendly stance with regards to the Taliban is quite explainable. China is a long-time ally of Pakistan that actively supports the Taliban.
Additionally, China wants to resolve the issue of Uyghur terrorists hiding in Afghanistan as well as to preserve its economic interests in the region, given that Afghanistan is taking part in the Belt and Road initiative, and has lithium and copper deposits.
According to the expert, it is too early to speak about Russia’s position on the new government but the issue will be resolved at the highest level, while the West won’t interact with the Taliban.
Andrei Serenko, an expert at the Center for Contemporary Afghan Studies, thinks that the Taliban government is not capable of coping with the looming humanitarian catastrophe since it has neither the funding nor the management skills, what’s more, humanitarian aid from China and Arab countries won’t last.
“Moscow sees that the new Taliban government was created against its recommendations on inclusivity. Without the Taliban taking into account these recommendations, Russia won’t recognize their government,” the expert concluded.
