Removal of Taliban from list of terrorist organizations possible — Putin - TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the removal of the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) from the list of terrorist organizations is possible, but at the same time he stressed that this must happen at the level of the United Nations.

"All of us expect that these people, the Taliban, who are undoubtedly in control of the situation in Afghanistan will ensure that the situation develop in a positive fashion," Putin said at the plenary meeting of the international Valdai Discussion Club on Thursday. "We maintain solidarity [regarding the common decisions concerning the Taliban] and will consider a decision to remove them from this list of terrorist organizations,"

"It looks like we are coming close to this," he added.

"Russia’s stance is for making progress precisely in this direction," Putin said. "But these decisions should be made in accordance with the same procedure that was once used when we included that movement in the list of terrorist organizations."

As he dwelt on the subject of the Taliban’s removal from the list of terrorist organizations, he said that Russia was not the only one involved.

"We cooperate with the Taliban’s representatives, we invite them to Moscow and we keep in touch with them in Afghanistan," he stated.