Banned as a terrorist organisation in Russia, the Taliban says it is ready to have relations with the United States that serves U.S. and Afghan interests.

Suhail Shaheen, Taliban spokesman, told Sputnik in an interview Tuesday that the organisation would welcome U.S. involvement in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

“Yes, of course, in a new chapter if America wants to have relations with us, which could be in the interest of both countries and both peoples, and if they want to participate in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, they are welcome,” Mr Shaheen said.

According to him, the Taliban will not have any relations with Israel but wants to maintain dialogue with all neighbouring countries.

“Of course, we won’t have any relations with Israel. We want to have relations with other countries; Israel is not among these countries.

“We would like to have relations with all the regional countries and neighbouring countries as well as Asian countries,” the spokesperson added.

Mr Shaheen expressed hope that the new Afghan government would be announced within the week.

“I hope that it would be this week, but I don’t know exactly. It could be this week or the next,” Mr Shaheen said.