Russia has called on Western countries to lift the banking sanctions imposed on Afghanistan since the return of the Taliban movement to power, and warned of an immigration crisis for hundreds of thousands of Afghans to Europe, if this does not happen.
"Let's release Afghans' money, everything must be done so as not to force hundreds of thousands of Afghan families to leave the country," Russian presidential envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said in a statement published by the RIA Novosti news agency on Friday.
He added that the isolation of Afghan banks from the international network "SWIFT" prevents "even United Nations bodies" from sending financial aid.
He added that the West fears waves of immigrant flows, "but we tell him that because of the obstacles he envisions, it may end up in a situation in which one-tenth of 23 million Afghans (threatened by starvation, according to United Nations figures) will flee to Europe this winter."
international seat
In another context, the Taliban movement demanded today, Friday, the United Nations again to allow it to appoint a representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations after the departure of Ghulam Ishaqzai - the ambassador appointed to the United Nations by the previous government - his post.
On Thursday, the United Nations announced that Eshaqzai, who was appointed by ousted President Ashraf Ghani and dismissed by the Taliban, has left his post.
The Taliban candidate for the post, Sohail Shaheen, said the seat should now be given to the new government that "has sovereignty" over Afghanistan, adding that it was a matter of the credibility of the United Nations.
In mid-August, the Taliban movement took control of Afghanistan completely, paralleling the final stage of a US military withdrawal from the country that was completed at the end of the same month.
Since the fall of the government of President Ashraf Ghani, the country has been witnessing an economic crisis, as the Taliban government has not been able to pay the salaries of employees for months.