Moscow: Russia will remove the Taliban from its list of banned terrorist organizations, three years after the group returned to power in Afghanistan, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported on Monday.
Moscow has long cultivated relations with the Taliban, holding multiple rounds of talks and boosting trade with Afghanistan despite international sanctions.
"Kazakhstan has recently taken the decision, which we are also going to take, to remove them from the list of terrorist organizations," RIA Novosti quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying. Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its list of banned organizations at the end of 2023.
This move could further enhance diplomacy between Russia and Afghanistan but would fall short of officially recognizing the Taliban government and what it calls the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."
The Taliban seized power in 2021 from a US-backed government. They have enforced an extreme form of Islamic law that effectively bans women from public life. Lavrov stated that Russia's decision is about acknowledging the realities on the ground. "They are the real power. We are not indifferent to Afghanistan. And above all, our allies in Central Asia are not indifferent," Lavrov said.
Russia also invited Taliban representatives to its flagship Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, state media reported. The event was once seen as the cornerstone of Russia's economic relations with the West.
Russia has for years fostered ties with the Taliban. In 2018, the head of US forces in Afghanistan claimed that Moscow was providing weapons to the group—accusations that Moscow denied at the time.
The Taliban has been designated a terrorist organization in Russia since 2003. Moscow itself has a complicated history with Afghanistan, with the Soviet Union having fought a decade-long war against guerrilla mujahideen fighters in the 1980s to support a Kremlin-backed government.