Russia says Kabul situation ‘stabilising’, claims Taliban ‘restoring public order’

The Russian foreign ministry said Monday the situation in Kabul “is stabilising” after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban this weekend and claimed that the militants have started to “restore public order”.

Russia, whose ambassador is due to meet with the Taliban Tuesday, claimed the militants had vowed to “guarantee the safety of local people”, despite thousands of Afghans trying to flee the group’s hardline version of Islam.

In the statement, Moscow confirmed it had “established working contacts with representatives of the new authorities”.

Russia’s ambassador in Kabul is due to meet with the Taliban on Tuesday, the country said earlier.

Unlike Western countries — which scrambled to get their diplomats out of the country as the Taliban completed its military takeover of the country this weekend — Russia has said its embassy in Kabul will stay open.

Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov told Russian state media that the Taliban had already started to guard his embassy.

Foreign ministry official Zamir Kabulov said Monday that Russia would decide on recognising the new Taliban government based “on the conduct of the new authorities”.

Russia will take part in an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan due later Monday.

The Kremlin has in recent years reached out to the Taliban and hosted its representatives in Moscow several times, most recently last month.