US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that the Taliban would have to earn legitimacy from the world, after talks with allies on how to present a united front to the hardline new government in Afghanistan. “The Taliban seek international legitimacy. Any legitimacy – any support – will have to be earned,” Blinken told reporters at the US air base in Ramstein, Germany, after leading a 20-nation ministerial meeting on the Afghan crisis. Standing alongside him, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the international community expected the Taliban to uphold human rights, including those of women, grant access to humanitarian aid and allow those wishing to leave the country to do so. Maas said he believed Wednesday’s talks were “the starting point for international coordination” on how to deal with the Taliban. Blinken and Maas both criticised the caretaker government announced in Afghanistan on Tuesday, which has no women or non-Taliban members and includes an interior minister the United States wants to arrest on terrorism accusations. Blinken said the caretaker cabinet would be judged “by its actions”, while his German counterpart added he was “not optimistic”. US officials have stressed that any official recognition of a Taliban government is far off. Blinken’s stop in Ramstein was his second base visit in as many days, after he visited Qatar on Tuesday.
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