Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov spoke about this in an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia. Here we are producing a truncated version of the transcript of his interview. The link to the complete text is given at the end of this version.
— In recent months, there has been a feeling that Moscow has become disillusioned with the [Taliban] movement’s ability to deliver on any of its promises. And for some time now we have stopped inviting the Taliban to the meetings of the Moscow format on Afghanistan.
— Yes, we have questions for the Taliban: both on the degree of representativeness of ethno-political forces in the government, and on the situation with women’s rights. Neither Russian society nor the Muslim world perceives the distortions that the Taliban have begun to allow, limiting girls in school and women in work.
And yet the Taliban is a reality. That is why we work with them. It is important for us that there is stability in Afghanistan. And people need help. We have handed over a lot of humanitarian cargo, we are supplying fuel and food. Last summer there was a strong earthquake in Afghanistan and the winter was very severe. Without our help, people would have had a very difficult time.
— Does this somehow affect the image of Russia and the attitude of the Afghans towards our country?
— Afghans love our country and always have. Old-timers know that it was good in Afghanistan only in Soviet times. We have trained and are training engineers, doctors, teachers, and specialists in other socially significant professions for Afghanistan. Now this direction is being led by our Center for Science and Culture in Kabul, which the Afghans call the Russian House.
The director of the Afghan airline is a graduate of the Krasnodar military flight school, he is a fighter pilot. By the way, we have had regular flights to Kabul for almost a year now.
— And how often are the flights?
— Once a week. Afghan military field surgery was founded by General Wardak, who also studied in the USSR. Then he opened a hospital in Kabul – one of the best now in Afghanistan. Soviet engineers rebuilt Afghanistan from scratch, and the country lives on this industrial base to this day. And the Salang tunnel, cut through by Soviet metro builders, is still the road of life for the whole country. At the entrance to the tunnel, at an altitude of 4200 m, there is an obelisk to the deceased Soviet soldier. And even those Afghans who then fought against the Shuravi today go to this monument, paint it, water the flowers at the foot.
In the summer, we installed a memorial stone in the embassy in honor of Soviet soldiers and officers who died in Afghanistan and were awarded the stars of Heroes of the Soviet Union. Their names are now carved into the granite. Their comrades-in-arms, also Heroes of the USSR, flew to the opening. There were also our friends from the Association of Heroes of Russia.
— You said that the Taliban is a reality and therefore we are working with them. At what level do Moscow and Kabul maintain contacts?
Yes, we have established working contacts with the Taliban authorities. There was a large delegation from several Russian ministries in Kabul. Negotiations were held in Moscow and Kazan with the Afghan Minister of Industry and Trade. The Special Representative of the President of Russia for Afghanistan flew here several times. Last summer, the first persons of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce visited the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Our engineers examined boiler houses, heating networks, water supply systems, and electrical substations in Kabul. They prepared a plan for the restoration of the housing and communal services system. Russian experts are participating in a technical group on the construction of a railway from Uzbekistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan. Only we have the experience of how to pass such a mountainous terrain. A month ago, in Kabul, businessmen from the Republic of Tatarstan signed a memorandum on the development of coal-fired power engineering in Afghanistan. This is a trilateral project with Iran and Pakistan. Our pipe manufacturers are ready to join the construction of the Afghan section of the gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India. Previously, our companies provided high-quality construction of the Turkmen section of this gas pipeline. A project is being prepared to create modern medical laboratories for the population in Afghan cities. Our entrepreneurs can also participate in the modernization of the Salang tunnel. There is a business council for cooperation with Afghanistan.
— Does it somehow affect trade between our countries?
— Of course, the trade turnover grew by 40% over the year.
— Last summer, one of the ministers of the Afghan government put forward the idea of exchanging Russian oil for Afghan minerals. Did any barter eventually develop between the two countries?
– Cooperation in the economy is underway. It is of a market nature, based on commercial contracts. Our approach is that it should be mutually beneficial, interesting for business circles in terms of payback.
— The PRC [China] has long been eyeing Afghan natural resources. In January, the Chinese even signed a contract for oil production in northern Afghanistan.
“These are old things. The Chinese wanted to take on the development of deposits in the Amu Darya basin even under the republican authorities of Afghanistan. But nothing happened. First of all, because of the security situation. As well as with the large Ainak copper deposit near Kabul. The Chinese also bought it a long time ago, but mothballed it. Now the oil contract has been extended. The question is whether China will want to carry out some work there in the near future.
— And if you look at a more distant perspective, will it not turn out that China will become an economic competitor to Russia in Afghanistan?
— No, this is an unplowed field. There is enough space and economic opportunity in Afghanistan for everyone. On the contrary, we would welcome the contribution of any state to the development of the national economy of Afghanistan. The whole region would benefit from this. Well, Afghanistan itself, of course. As the economy picks up, the environment for the terrorist underground will begin to shrink. And what we are doing is an important groundwork for improving the situation in Afghanistan. /// nCa, 6 March 2023
Link to complete text of the interview:
https://iz.ru/1477657/nataliia-portiakova/taliby-eto-realnost-poetomu-my-rabotaem-s-nimi