Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Pashto article.
The United States cautioned countries against supporting the Taliban as the group took part in a consultative meeting on Afghanistan in Moscow.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson told VOA that the Taliban remains on the U.S. Specially Designated Global Terrorist list.
“We caution all countries against taking actions that could support terrorist groups, including the Taliban,” the State Department said in an email Saturday.
Russia invited a Taliban delegation led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to the eighth annual meeting of the Moscow Format of Consultations on Afghanistan, which began Monday.
Representatives of Pakistan, Iran, China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, India, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan attended the meeting, while Belarus and Egypt sent guest delegations.
In his opening remarks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised the Taliban’s rule.
“Five years is a short time to overcome the consequences of many decades of occupation, yet your government’s achievements are evident, and we welcome them,” Lavrov said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday that Lavrov would meet separately with the Taliban’s foreign minister on the sidelines of the meeting to discuss “bilateral cooperation.”
Russia remains the only country to have officially recognized the Taliban since the group seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.
In July 2025, Moscow recognized the Taliban after removing the group from its list of banned organizations.
In March, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz described the Taliban’s policies as causing widespread hardship and suffering in Afghanistan.
“The Taliban, through their policies, inflict constant and consistent hardship and suffering on the people of Afghanistan, limiting access to the very basic services and rights, perpetuating human rights abuses, including unconscionable and frankly disgusting restrictions on the exercise of women’s rights. These oppressive policies have led to humanitarian disaster and economic crisis,” he said.