Russia on Wednesday accused the United States of politicizing the work of the U.N.’s 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee, saying Washington is using it for its “own narrow interests.” The accusation came during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Afghanistan where tensions over travel bans and sanctions enforcement were aired.
“The new stance of the USA to politicize the work of the 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee, and to use it for their own narrow interests, does not hold up to criticism. These actions only hinder the efforts of actors in the region to solve key problems,” Russia’s envoy said.
Acting U.S. Representative John Kelley responded by saying that the concerns should remain within the sanctions committee. “In response … the matter is a discussable issue and should stay there in the Committee,” he said. He added that the Security Council has a responsibility “to ensure travel ban exemptions are carefully scrutinized.”
Since August 2022, sanctioned Taliban leaders have been granted travel ban exemptions nearly four dozen times for both official and personal reasons, according to data from the Bush Center’s Taliban Travel Tracker.
These exemptions have faced criticism by activists from within and outside Afghanistan.
