‘No alternative to the Taliban’: Russia’s envoy to Afghanistan

Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov says the Taliban has made encouraging pledges and dismisses resistance efforts as doomed.

Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan praised the conduct of the Taliban on Friday in the days since its takeover, saying there was no alternative to the hardline group and resistance to it would fail. The comments by Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov reflect efforts by Russia to deepen already well-established ties with the Taliban while stopping short, for now, of recognising them as the legitimate rulers of a country Moscow 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 the region does not become a launch pad for other armed groups.