Russia urges western countries to release Afghanistan central bank reserves

Moscow has called on the western countries to release Afghan gold and foreign exchange reserves. Zamir Kabulov, Russia's presidential envoy to Afghanistan has insisted that the decision of blocking the assets would affect the Afghans, reported TASS citing his Rossiya24 interview. It is reported that after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, all the money and assets have been frozen. 

Russia urges western countries to release Afghan reserves

Zamir Kabulov in an interview with Rossiya24 has informed that the Western countries should not freeze "the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Afghan state," reported TASS. He mentioned that the decision of blocking the assets would affect the Afghans. Furthermore, Kabulov stated that Russia is trying to build ties with the Taliban. 

Kabulov has informed that if the western countries will not defreeze the assets, it would lead to "export and illegal trafficking of opiates," TASS cited Rossiya24 interview. Kabulov stated that blocking of assets may create a huge demand for "military weapons in the black market." He hoped that weapons that the US has left in the war-torn country would not escalate the civil war.

On August 17, the United States froze the Taliban’s access to billions of dollars in Afghanistan’s national reserves as the Taliban took over the war-ravaged country. According to a report by Washington Post, the Biden administration has frozen accounts at American banks that hosted money from Afghanistan’s national reserves, thereby cutting the Taliban access to the fortune left by the previous government. Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also announced that Afghanistan will be denied access to a USD 460 million emergency reserve as the Taliban took over the conflict-stricken country, according to ANI. 

Taliban Takeover

It is worth mentioning that on August 15, the Taliban took over Afghanistan as they captured the country's capital, Kabul. On the same day, several government officials and legislators, including President Ashraf Ghani, fled the country. In an effort to escape the Taliban, panic and chaos scenes were observed at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport. Thousands of people tried to flee Afghanistan at the earliest, fearing the return of the Taliban's brutal rule. US President Joe Biden, on August 31, announced the completion of the massive evacuation operations from Afghanistan.

(Inputs from ANI)

IMAGE: AP