Russia accredits 1st Taliban-appointed diplomat

KABUL (Pajhwok): Russia has granted accreditation to the Taliban government’s first representative who has been working in Moscow since February.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted as saying on Thursday the Taliban’s diplomat became an official representative after being accredited by Moscow.

RIA news agency reported Lavrov was speaking at a meeting of foreign ministers of several countries on Afghanistan in China.

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and diplomats from Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Qatar attended the meeting.

The top Russian diplomat said US or NATO military presence in countries bordering Afghanistan was unacceptable to his country.

On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang met individually his counterparts from Russia, Pakistan and Qatar.

PAN Monitor/mud