Russia's Putin: Taliban must be taken into account at Afghan peace talks
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Taliban should be taken into account at peace talks on Afghanistan because of the amount of territory they control.
Speaking at his annual news conference, Putin also said that Russia needed to beef up its military base in neighbouring Tajikistan due the situation in Afghanistan.
(Reporting by Polina Nikolskaya, Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber, Andrew Osborn; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Kevin Liffey)