Russia has attempted to address its labor shortage by recruiting migrant workers, but negotiations to bring workers from Afghanistan have reached a deadlock.

Axar.az reports, citing Ukrainian media, that according to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU), talks on attracting Afghan workers have stalled.

Ukraine’s intelligence service cited several possible reasons, including language barriers, cultural differences and security risks stemming from instability in Afghanistan.

In particular, Afghan workers are reportedly unwilling to learn Russian, making communication with Russians difficult.

Recruiters were also unable to overcome the obstacles by removing the Taliban from Russia’s list of terrorist organizations in advance.

According to Zamir Kabulov, the Russian president’s special representative for Afghanistan, negotiations have reached a deadlock, and the sides have not even begun a detailed examination of the Kremlin’s geopolitical initiative.