Kabul seems safer under Taliban than it was under Ashraf Ghani, says Russia amid Afghanistan crisis

Russia also said that it was surprised, like many other nations, by the lighting speed with which the Taliban seized control of the country.

MOSCOW: Russia`s ambassador to Afghanistan praised the Taliban`s conduct on Monday and said the group, still officially designated a terrorist organisation in Russia, had made Kabul safer in the first 24 hours than it had been under the previous authorities. The comments by Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov reflect an undisguised effort by Russia to deepen its well-established ties with the Taliban while stopping short, for now, of recognising the hardline Islamist group as the legitimate rulers of a country Moscow itself tried and failed to control before the Soviet Union withdrew its last forces in 1989. Russia wants to ensure that the instability in Afghanistan does not spill over into Central Asia, part of the former Soviet Union it regards as its own backyard, and that it does not become a launchpad for other extreme Islamist groups.