Russia considering dropping sanctions on Taliban

Russia’s representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzya, has said that Russia,
which holds the presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of July, may drop
sanctions against the Taliban. Speaking during the Doha III meeting on Afghanistan, he
said, ‘(The Taliban) are the de facto authorities. (They) are not going to stop, and we’ve
been saying consistently that you have to recognise this fact and deal with them as
such because, whether you like it or not, this movement is running the country now.
You cannot simply ignore that.’

According to UN reporting, he also said, ‘We are talking to the Taliban about women’s
rights [but] they have their own ideas about it unfortunately.’

Speaking at the event, UN Under-Secretary for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
Rosemary DiCarlo said, ‘I want to first express our deep appreciation to the Government of Qatar for hosting this third meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan. This is the third Doha meeting, but it is also a first. Indeed, this is the first time such a broad cross section of the international community and the de facto authorities have had the opportunity to hold such detailed discussions.

‘The Afghan private sector faces enormous obstacles to its development and growth,
which adversely affects the economy and livelihoods. Afghanistan also needs support
in building on progress made in curbing drug production [but] running through all the
discussions was the deep international concern – from special envoys and from me –
about the ongoing and serious restrictions on women and girls.’

She said, ‘Afghanistan cannot return to the international fold, or fully develop
economically and socially, if it is deprived of the contributions and potential of half its
population.’

Asked for her response on the matter of the Taliban’s ‘messaging’ about sanctions
relief, DiCarlo said, ‘[The sanctions issue is] a concern for the Taliban. We didn’t really elaborate on it [but] it’s a member state issue whether they’re going to continue certain sanctions or not. The sanctions are on people. Not on the country.’

SEE: https://dppa.un.org/en/press-usg-dicarlo-doha-iii-1-jul-2024