Moscow will support Afghanistan’s accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) if the Taliban movement, currently outlawed in Russia, is recognized, Zamir Kabulov, Russian special presidential envoy for Afghanistan and director of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asia Department, said at a briefing on June 4, according to TASS.

“I think we will,” he said in response to a question.  “However, it’s not only about recognition,” Kabulov added.

In particular, Russian diplomat pointed out that the SCO was first and foremost an economic organization, so “Afghanistan should also put its economy in some kind of order for other SCO members to view its accession as reasonable.”

Earlier, Kabulov told TASS that Russia’s foreign and justice ministries had reported to President Vladimir Putin that the Taliban could be removed from the list of banned organizations.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later said that this initiative reflected objective reality.