Should Russia's talks with the Taliban be a cause for concern for the West?

euronews (in English)

Russia is hosting a Taliban delegation for talks on issues of ‘counter-terrorism’ and ‘narcotics’ on Friday, 29 September. China, Pakistan and Uzbekistan are among the powers heading to meet representatives in Kazan, south west Russia.

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00:00 is being pragmatic and recognizing reality, as are other governments in the region which

00:07 certainly have not historically liked the Taliban at all.

00:13 Russia is hosting the Taliban for talks on counter-terrorism and narcotics in Afghanistan.

00:18 China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Iran are among the regional powers attending the gathering

00:23 in Kazan, southwest Russia.

00:26 This is the fifth edition of these meetings which first took place in 2017.

00:31 This time round, counter-terrorism is top of the agenda.

00:35 "For Russia, the principal foreign policy challenge in the region is stopping cross-border

00:43 terrorism and all the indications are that the Taliban have not stopped the insurgent

00:51 groups who might want to cross the river and go into Central Asia."

00:55 Since the Taliban came to power in August 2021, it has tried to crack down on Afghanistan's

01:00 booming drug trade, but with limited success, Russia remains one of the key destinations

01:05 for these drugs.

01:06 "Russia does not have the money today.

01:10 How much it might like to, and I think it probably would like to, simply pay off the

01:16 Taliban to suppress the heroin trade and to help the Taliban crush the ISIS rebellion

01:22 within Afghanistan, but of course Russia is just not financially in a place to do that."

01:29 "What they're trying to do with the Taliban at the moment has a broader geopolitical sense

01:35 to it in wanting to seek influence in places where America is now seen as very weak.

01:44 The Biden administration's withdrawal was a significant setback really for American

01:50 policy in the region and Russia's trying to fill in the vacuum."

01:53 "However, there is still scepticism regarding whether stronger ties can be formed."

01:58 "Real thinking in the Taliban goes on in Kandahar in the south under Haibatullah Akinzadeh,

02:09 the Taliban's supreme leader, and he's not in the room in these talks, and nor are the

02:16 sort of ideological hard men around him who are the people who are insisting that girls

02:22 schools remain closed and that almost all employment opportunities are closed to women."

02:27 [SWOOSH]

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