Zamir Kabulov, Russia's Foreign Ministry's director of the Second Asian Department has declared the Taliban a potent armed political power, saying that the Taliban and Russia are bound by common ties in their campaign against Daesh in Afghanistan.
He said that Russia completely agreed with the general perception that the U.S has no clear strategy in Afghanistan and it only has a military and political presence in the war-hit nation.
"I agree with the view that America has no Afghanistan strategy. They have a single purpose, [which is] to exist in Afghanistan in terms of military and political. Afghanistan is geopolitically located in an important place to control China through Central Asia, Iran, Russia, and Pakistan. This situation naturally disturbs us".
"Whether we accept it or not, the Taliban is a potent political armed force, but the question, if the group has the same power it had 15 years ago, should be asked from the U.S. There is an independent government in Afghanistan, because of this, foreign countries are responsible for the events that took place in the country in the past fifteen years. The current situation is the result of their (foreigners) wrong policies, but we can still resolve these problems," he said.
Meanwhile, the European Union Special Representative for Afghanistan Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin has said that Afghanistan has been the victim of regional rivalries.
He said that regional players are trying to secure their own people at the expense of others.
"I do hope that all regional actors understand that it is imperative to break off any kind of support to terrorist groups, whatever the strategic concerns are in the long run on these countries and the entire region including our own countries are threatened by terrorism in this region," said Mellbin.
But the Kremlin argues that Russia and the Taliban are bound by common grounds in the war against Daesh.
Kabulov confirmed that Russia has been in contact with the Taliban, saying these contacts are aimed to ensure the security of Russian nationals in Afghanistan and Russia's political representatives in the country.
"There has been systematic contact between the Taliban and Russia since 2009, they continued this in order to put pressure on the United States or avenge the international community for its presence in Afghanistan," said political analyst Jawed Kohistani.
"If the Afghan government does not enter with an accurate understanding of the situation, Afghanistan will once again fall into a complicated and serious intelligence war," said political analyst Khalil Sarwari.
Kabulov also expressed satisfaction over growing ties between Russia and Pakistan.
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