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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the statement as Russia hosts an international meeting with the Taliban and 10 countries on the Afghanistan crisis and its impact on security in Central Asia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has recognised Taliban “efforts” to try and stabilise the situation in Afghanistan as Moscow hosted the group for international talks.
The Moscow talks, which draw officials from 10 countries, including China and Pakistan, are one of the Taliban’s most significant international meetings since seizing power in mid-August.
“A new administration is in power now,” Lavrov told the gathering on Wednesday.
“We note their efforts to stabilse the military and political situation and set up work of the state apparatus.”
Russia seeks to assert its influence on Central Asia and push for action against Daesh fighters which it says have massed in perennially volatile Afghanistan.
The international meeting happened after President Vladimir Putin warned last week that Daesh fighters were gathering in Afghanistan to spread discord in former Soviet republics flanking Russia.
READ MORE: Inclusive government in Afghanistan a top priority in Moscow talks
Preventing a humanitarian crisis
Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that one of the aims of the Moscow meeting was to consolidate the “efforts of the international community to prevent a humanitarian crisis”.
Moscow also said the formation of an “inclusive government” would be on the agenda, and that parties to the talks were expected to release a joint statement afterwards.
It has reached out to the Taliban and hosted its representatives in Moscow several times in recent years, even though the Afghan Taliban is a designated terrorist organisation in Russia.
The Taliban delegation is headed by Acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi, a senior figure in the new Afghan interim leadership, who led talks with the European Union and the United States last week.
Those followed talks in Ankara between the Taliban and Turkish officials.
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