Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Taliban movement is their “allies in fighting terrorism” – in statements made today cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We are in contact with the Taliban movement, and repeatedly received signals that Taliban is ready to cooperate with us,” Putin said.

"We must assume that the Taliban controls the power in the country. And in this sense the Taliban are, of course, our allies in the fight against terrorism, because any authorities are interested in stability in the state they govern," Putin said in Astana.

Putin also said that he takes Donald J. Trump's comments on ending the conflict in Ukraine “seriously”.

"The fact that Mr. Trump as a presidential candidate is saying that he is ready and wants to stop the war in Ukraine, we take that quite seriously," Putin said, adding that he was "not familiar" with Trump's specific proposals.