Russia Welcomes Taliban ‘Diplomat,’ Praises Jihadists for ‘Human Rights’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced Thursday that Moscow has accredited its first diplomatic representative from the Taliban, even though Russia supposedly regards the regime that violently seized control of Afghanistan last summer as a terrorist organization.

Lavrov told the Third Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan’s Neighboring Countries that Moscow recognized and welcomed the unnamed Taliban diplomat in February.

“We are convinced that the international community should actively cooperate with Afghanistan’s new government, encouraging steps aimed at its official recognition by the UN and all its participants,” Lavrov declared.

The Russian foreign minister had a few words of criticism for the “insufficient representativeness” of the Taliban regime – a rather delicate way of saying the government is entirely run by male extremists who just kicked girls out of school again – but bizarrely praised the Taliban for its success with “counter-terrorism and human rights.”

Lavrov said the Taliban is working hard to “expand diplomatic and economic ties,” strongly hinting that a bit more “inclusiveness” could clear the last obstacles to widespread international recognition for the hideous regime.

Lavrov also used the summit of Afghanistan’s neighbors in China to accuse the United States of “trying to avoid future responsibility for the citizens and refugees of Afghanistan” by keeping sanctions against the Taliban regime in place.

“The United States, through its influence in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, is obstructing the implementation of social programs in Afghanistan,” he declared.

Radio Free Europe (RFE) noted that while few nations in the world formally recognize the Taliban as legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, the United Nations Security Council made a major diplomatic concession to the terrorist group on March 17 by voting to establish diplomatic relations with the regime.

The U.N. said it opened relations with the Taliban on behalf of the suffering Afghan people, asserting that humanitarian assistance could not be effectively rendered to them without involving local officials. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia abstained from the vote, saying it did not go far enough to recognize the Taliban or obtain its consent for U.N. operations in Afghanistan.

Russia used to be one of the countries that vowed it would not recognize the Taliban regime. The last ambassador to Moscow from the ousted U.S.-backed government of Afghanistan, Said Jawad, said in October he was given assurances by the Russian Foreign Ministry that “recognition of the Taliban regime is not even on the table.”