Putin: The Taliban is our ally in the fight against terrorism, and we look seriously at Trump’s intention to stop the Ukraine war

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday considered the Afghan Taliban movement to be his country's ally in what he called "the fight against terrorism," following Russian talk in recent months about Moscow's approach to establishing full relations with the Afghan government formed by the movement.

Putin said in a press conference, “The Taliban are certainly our allies in the fight against terrorism, because any existing government is concerned with the independence of its rule and the stability of the state that it runs,” stressing that the movement clings to power and announced some commitments, and indicated his confidence that the Taliban “is also concerned with everything being stable.” "And calm and subject to certain rules in Afghanistan."

Dmitry Medvedev, Vice President of the Russian Security Council, also said late last May that his country is close to establishing full relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Medvedev explained that Moscow considered the Taliban movement a "terrorist" at the beginning of the 21st century, but "the situation is different now. The Taliban has returned to power, and we are very close to establishing full relations with them," noting that the Afghan administration is trying to maintain a constructive dialogue with Russia. And that "Moscow will see how sincerely they are doing this."

Trump and the Ukraine war

In another context, Vladimir Putin confirmed that his country views "very seriously" the statements of Republican candidate Donald Trump, in which he repeatedly declared that he would quickly stop the war between Ukraine and Russia if he was re-elected as President of the United States.

He said, "Trump, as a candidate for the American presidency, said that he is ready and has the intention to stop the war in Ukraine. We take that very seriously."

He added, "Of course, I do not know his possible proposals on how he wants to do this, and of course this is a key question, but I have no doubt that he is saying that sincerely, and we support that."

Putin also stressed that his country is awaiting the results of the US presidential elections and “the state of mind and future directions of the administration” before resuming any dialogue on “strategic stability.”

He once again stressed his opposition to any ceasefire in Ukraine if Kiev does not make "permanent" concessions to Russia.

It is noteworthy that Putin had announced last June 14 his readiness to negotiate with Ukraine if it withdraws its forces from 4 regions claimed by Moscow, and if it abandons its attempt to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), downplaying the importance of a peace summit in Switzerland that did not take place. His country called for it, and Ukraine, NATO and the United States immediately rejected Putin's conditions to stop the war.

Last month, Putin called for building relations between his country and the Taliban government, stressing that the movement - from which a delegation visited Russia at the time - "represents the authority in Afghanistan."

Last May, Moscow announced its intention to remove the Taliban from its list of “terrorist organizations,” more than 3 years after the movement returned to power in Afghanistan.

The RIA Novosti news agency also quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying at the time, “Kazakhstan recently took a decision, and we will also take it, aimed at removing the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations.”

Russia has included the Taliban on its list since 2003, but that did not prevent Moscow from establishing relations with the movement for years, especially by repeatedly receiving delegates from the Taliban.

(agencies)