Taliban control power in Afghanistan, Russia's ally in fighting terrorism in this sense - Putin

ASTANA. July 4 (Interfax) - The Taliban movement, a banned terrorist organization in Russia, controls power in Afghanistan and thus interested in domestic stability, being Russia's ally in the fight against terrorism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"The Taliban, the Taliban movement, assumed certain obligations. And by large, there are still issues that require constant attention both inside the country and from the international community. But overall, we should proceed from the fact that the Taliban movement controls power in the country. And in this sense, the Taliban are certainly our ally fighting terrorism," Putin told journalists after a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit on Thursday.

"That is because any incumbent authorities are interested in the stability of their power and the stability of the state which they head and govern," he said.

The Taliban are interested that "everything is stable, calm and goes according to certain rules" in Afghanistan, he said. "And we repeatedly received such signals from the Taliban movement about that it is ready to work with us on the anti-terrorist trek as well," Putin said.

Putin was responding to a question whether the Taliban should take part in fighting terrorist threats, in particular posed by terrorist groups that gained ground in Afghanistan, such as ISIL, which is a terrorist organization banned in Russia, and whether they are Russia's ally or enemy.