Russia seeks to encourage Afghan parties to keep their word, envoy says

MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/. Russia does not take the promises that the parties to the Afghan conflict give for granted but imposes guarantees of compliance, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said during an online discussion hosted by the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund on Tuesday. "I do know what the promises we get are worth and I also understand that to make sure that people keep their promises, it’s not enough to believe them but they need to be forced to keep their word. We are very pragmatic and cold-hearted about these things. If the party that gives its word moves to break it, it should realize what price it will have to pay. Russia makes it clear with all its might, but at the same time, delicately," Kabulov said, when asked if it was possible to trust the word of members of the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia). According to him, about two-thirds of the Taliban believe that they will be able to achieve more through intra-Afghan talks than through military activities. However, in Kabulov’s words, the process is unlikely to proceed smoothly. "We take it all into account and we understand perfectly well that real diplomacy is not based on emotions, it’s based on interests and capacities," the envoy concluded. On April 14, US President Joe Biden announced plans to end Washington’s operation in Afghanistan, the longest military campaign in US history. The situation in the country started to deteriorate after that as the Taliban movement is mounting offensives in several directions. Read more