In an interview with Ukrinform newspaper, the former ambassador of Estonia to Afghanistan, Harri Tiido said that Russia has significant political and economic interests in Afghanistan, including the use of lithium mines.
Tiido added that Russia's goal in Afghanistan is "to create an ally to confront the West”.
He, who was previously the country's ambassador to Afghanistan and Poland, told this newspaper, "Russia's political interests in Afghanistan include increasing the number of countries it can cooperate with against the West."
He said that among the Taliban, a group seeks better relations with the West, especially America, and another group wants to distance itself from the West and be close to regional powers.
About Russia's economic interests, Tiido said that Moscow should use Afghanistan's territory to transfer its gas to Pakistan and India. Also, Russia is eyeing Afghanistan's important lithium reserves.
He said that whoever controls the lithium mines actually controls the development of the technology.
According to Tiido, the West is facing a shortage of lithium, if Russia gets access to Afghanistan's lithium reserves, it will have more opportunities to dominate or penetrate the global lithium market.
Recently, the Taliban quoted Russian officials as saying that Moscow will remove this group from its list of terrorist groups in the near future. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country said that removing the Taliban from the blacklist will help to develop relations between Russia and the Taliban.
