Zamir Kabulov, the Russian president’s special envoy for Afghanistan, said no international meetings on Afghanistan have yet been planned for 2026, adding that nothing has been scheduled so far, according to TASS.
Kabulov’s remarks come after a meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries at the level of special envoys was held in Tehran in 2025, which was attended by Russia’s representative. Russia also hosts the annual Moscow-format talks on Afghanistan, though it remains unclear whether those talks will be held in the new calendar year.
Russia is the only country that has formally recognised the Taliban administration.
In another part of his remarks, Kabulov said Russia and the United States have not held any direct talks on Afghanistan.
He added that as of December 2023, no communication channels remained between Moscow and Washington on Afghan-related issues.
In an interview with TASS, Kabulov also said Afghanistan’s banking system is currently unable to process Russia’s Mir payment cards.
Asked about the prospects for using Mir cards in Afghanistan, he said he does not expect this to happen in the near future, citing technical limitations within Afghanistan’s banking sector and the impact of international sanctions.
Previously, Gul Hassan, the Taliban’s ambassador to Moscow, said the Taliban administration was in talks with Russia on banking cooperation, including the possible use of Mir cards.
The Mir network is a Russian payment system created by the country’s central bank as an alternative to international systems such as Visa and Mastercard.
Responding to a question about regional instability, Kabulov said the Taliban are unable to influence developments in the region.
