Earlier in the week, the Russian minister took part in the fourth meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, with the officials discussing the situation in Afghanistan and ways to develop a common regional approach to improving it.
"All of us practically agree on the necessity of maintaining and developing contacts with the Taliban government which despite the weakening of its positions because of the growing terrorist threat, still retains power and retains control over the country," Lavrov said at a press conference following the meeting.
The Taliban are "the reality, which not everyone in Afghanistan accepts, however, due to the government's lack of inclusion," the top Russian diplomat said.
The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in the fall of 2021 against the backdrop of the withdrawal of US troops from the country and the collapse of the US-backed government. The
Taliban takeover has heightened the fears of the Central Asian nations concerning the spread of radical fundamental Islamic ideas, as happened in 1996 when the Taliban first came to power in Afghanistan for five years.
*under UN sanctions for terrorism