This week on From Russia With News, Middle East expert Alexei Khlebnikov tells us why Russia hosted their former foes, the Taliban, in Moscow this week. And Bloomberg columnist Leonid Bershidsky talks about why Rosstat’s new economic prognosis looks too good to be true.

We’ll also hear from religious affairs commentator Roman Lunkin about what’s next for religious minorities in Russia after a Danish Jehovah’s Witness was handed a six-year sentence for extremism.