Russia Officially Recognizes Taliban as Government of Afghanistan

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the official recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government would foster ‘productive bilateral cooperation.’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov R, and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban regime Amir Khan Muttaqi pose for a photo before talks in Moscow on Oct. 4, 2024. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP

Russia on Thursday became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban’s de facto government in Afghanistan, four years after the Sunni Islamist group seized power for the second time in August 2021.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the official recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government would foster “productive bilateral cooperation.”

The ministry said in a statement that Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko accepted copies of credentials from Afghanistan’s newly appointed ambassador to Moscow, Gul Hassan Hassan.

“We see considerable prospects for interaction in trade and the economy with a focus on projects in energy, transport, agriculture, and infrastructure,” the ministry said in the statement. “We will continue to assist Kabul in strengthening regional security and fighting terrorist threats and drug crime.”

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers the accreditation of the ambassador by the Russian Federation to be a significant step, and expresses hope that this important development will further broaden and strengthen relations between the two countries in political, economic and other domains.”

Russia’s new ambassador to Kabul, Dmitry Zhirnov, said on state Channel One television that the decision to officially recognize the Taliban was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, based on advice from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in October 2024.

Zhirnov said the decision showed Russia was “striving for the development of full-fledged relations with Afghanistan.”

The Russian Supreme Court removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations in April.

On April 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, “The removal of terrorist status from the Taliban movement, which formed the Afghan government following the collapse of the pro-Western regime of Ashraf Ghani in 2021, opens the way to the establishment of a full-fledged partnership with Kabul in the interests of Russian and Afghan peoples.”

Russia has a long history of involvement with Afghanistan, stretching back to the so-called Great Game, when the czars vied for control of the territory with the British Empire in India.

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and fought a long war against the U.S.-backed Mujahideen before withdrawing in 1989.

The Taliban first captured Kabul in 1996 but were ousted in November 2001 by a U.S.-led force that intervened after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to root out Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, which had used Afghanistan as a base.

The Taliban takes control of the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 15, 2021. Zabi Karimi/AP Photo

In August 2021, Kabul fell to the Taliban again, four months after U.S. President Joe Biden announced he would withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021.

Since returning to power, the Taliban have enforced their strict interpretation of Islamic law. In August 2024, they banned women from showing their faces or speaking in public.

During their first period of rule, three countries—Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.

Russia is the first country to recognize the Taliban’s rule since the group retook Kabul in 2021.

The Taliban held talks with the government of India and opened some diplomatic links with China and the United Arab Emirates.

In May, Russia offered to help the Taliban fight the Afghan wing of ISIS, known as ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K.

Zamir Kabulov, the special Russian presidential representative to Afghanistan, said in an interview with Russia’s state-run news agency Ria Novosti on May 2: “We see and appreciate the efforts that the Taliban are making in the fight against the Afghan wing of ISIS. ... This group is a common enemy for Russia and Afghanistan, and we will provide all possible assistance to the authorities of this country through specialized structures.”

The Taliban have clashed several times with ISIS-K, which also claimed responsibility for attacks in Russia, including the March 2024 attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow, where gunmen opened fire on concertgoers and set off incendiary devices, killing 145 and wounding hundreds more.

On Friday, Pakistan’s military said it had killed 30 members of the Pakistani Taliban who crossed the border from Afghanistan.

The military said the incursion took place in the North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and that Pakistani forces seized weapons, ammunition, and explosives.

The Pakistani Taliban is separate from the Afghan Taliban but closely allied.

Pakistan’s military claimed that the Pakistani Taliban were backed by India and urged the Kabul government to prevent its territory from being used by foreign proxies.

Pakistan has previously accused India of backing both the Pakistani Taliban and the Baloch Liberation Army.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.