Russia appeals USA to release Afghan central bank reserves

Russia on Monday appealed USA to release Afghan central bank reserves. The money and assets have been blocked after the Taliban took over power in Kabul earlier this month.

"If our Western colleagues are actually worried about the fate of the Afghan people, then we must not create additional problems for them by freezing gold and foreign exchange reserves," said the Kremlin's envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov.

He said that the United States must urgently unfreeze these events. He was speaking on the state-run Rossiya 24 network. He said that the assets must be unfrozen "to bolster the rate of the collapsing national currency".

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Kabulov said that if this was not done, the new authorities will turn to "the trafficking of illegal opiates" and "sell on the black market the weapons" abandoned by the Afghan army and the United States.

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The Afghan central bank's gross reserves totalled $9.4 billion at the end of April, according to the IMF. The majority of these funds are held outside of Afghanistan.

Washington has indicated that the Taliban will not have access to assets held in the United States, without specifying the total amount there.

Afghanistan has long been the world's largest producer of opium and heroin, with profits from the illicit trade helping fund the Taliban.

(With inputs from agencies)