Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, has said that Moscow has invited the Taliban to participate in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Kabulov stated that an invitation to the meeting has been sent to the Taliban. According to him, the Taliban are interested in buying oil and other goods from Russia.

In response to a question from the TASS news agency about what Russia will discuss with Taliban representatives at the meeting, the Russian diplomat said there are many promising areas for cooperation.

In another report, TASS quoted Zamir Kabulov as saying that Russia's Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs have informed Vladmir Putin that the Taliban can be removed from the list of banned organisations.

The Russian special envoy for Afghanistan, who has always sought to expand Russia's relations with the Taliban, previously stated that "the Taliban are no longer enemies of Russia”.

In the past nearly three years, Kabulov has played an important role in facilitating relations between Russia and the Taliban. He previously stated that the Taliban trust Russia as the successor to the former Soviet Union.