Russia wants Taliban legal and friendly

The Taliban movement has been banned in Russia since 2003. Earlier, President Vladimir Putin stated that there are "problems" in Afghanistan but "building relations with the current government is another matter." 

Photo: flickr.com by isafmedia, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Taliban fighters in Afghanistan

Russia's Prosecutor General’s Office requested the ban on the activities of the Taliban, recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia, be overturned. This request was submitted to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

Previously, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice also proposed lifting the ban.

The Taliban was designated as a terrorist organization in Russia in 2003. In August 2021, after the United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban seized power in the country.

The Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs stated the necessity of establishing ties with Afghanistan’s new leadership. In the spring of 2022, Moscow accepted the first diplomat from the Taliban. In 2024, Russia decided to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations but noted that additional legal work was needed to finalize the process.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained that this decision was based on the fact that the Taliban is the de facto ruling authority in Afghanistan. President Putin has made similar remarks, reiterating that while there are "problems" in Afghanistan, "how to engage with the current government is a separate issue."

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have already removed the Taliban from their lists of banned organizations. However, the removal itself does not constitute official recognition of the Taliban government, according to Omar Nessar, director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary Afghanistan.

Nessar noted that trade and economic relations with Afghanistan are important for both Russia and Kazakhstan, as Afghanistan also presents logistical opportunities. By removing the Taliban from the terrorist list, Moscow is resolving a contradiction in which it simultaneously bans and engages with the group.

Details

The Taliban (; Pashto: طَالِبَانْ, romanized: Tālibān, lit. 'students'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an Afghan political and militant movement with an ideology comprising elements of Pashtun nationalism and the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism. It ruled approximately 75% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown by an American invasion after the September 11 attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. The Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021 following the departure of coalition forces, after 20 years of Taliban insurgency, and now controls the entire country. The Taliban government is not recognized by any country and has been condemned for restricting human rights, including women's rights to work and have an education.