KABUL - Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Alexey Y. Dedov has acknowledged contacts between his country and the Afghan Taliban, but said they are aimed at promoting reconciliation in Afghanistan.
“There have been limited contacts with the Afghan Taliban,” he told participants of a recent seminar on ‘Russia’s position on Afghanistan and Syria’ at the Area Study Centre in Peshawar, according to Pakistan's Dawn News.
The Russian ambassador rejected reports that President Vladimir Putin had met Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour. He said that his country viewed the presence of Daesh in northern Afghanistan with concern.
Ambassador Dedov said the situation in Afghanistan was complicated as it was more of a playground for other forces where there was no effective operation to suppress terrorists.
About Russian military support to Damascus, he said, it was aimed at targeting terrorist groups including Daesh and Al Nusra front.
He said Russia considered Deash a threat to its national security.
Dedov dispelled a perception that Russia was indifferent to the situation in Afghanistan and pointed out several instances where it was providing assistance to the Afghan government, including supply of small arms and training to its police.
He said that Russia came to help Syria legal government when it was faced with a challenge from Daesh.
Speaking about Russia-Pakistan relations, he said it was positive and positions of both the countries coincided on 80 percent of issues.
On President Putin’s much-speculated visit to Pakistan, he argued that there would have to be something substantive for the Russian head of state to come to Islamabad. (IRNA)