On October 14, 2026, Afghan officials and media reported that Sergei Sergei Naryshkin, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, officially visited Kabul and met with Mullah Abdul Haq Vasik, Director of the Intelligence Service of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, there are also reports of the Russian Interior Minister visiting Islamabad. Afghan opposition figures commented that Moscow is attempting to maintain contact with both sides and control the tense relationship between Pakistan and the Taliban based on its own security interests. The Taliban should not view every meeting as evidence of support; Contact is a dialogue, while assurance of support is another dialogue.

On the other hand, Andrei Selinko reported on a conference on women's rights in Afghanistan held in Vienna by representatives from Pakistan, Iran, and Bakhti. Bakhti's attendance as a diplomat opposing the Taliban is an important detail: Afghanistan's voice is not limited to the Taliban.

Pakistan is pursuing its own political interests; But women's rights, independent of Islamabad's calculations, must become the focus of attention and the core of accountability.

Commentators also argue that the paradox is obvious: the Taliban does not accept the people's right to vote domestically, restricts women's rights, but opens the door to contact in order to win the trust of foreign powers.Editor/Min Jing