Russia to Remove Taliban From Terrorist List, Calls on West to Lift Sanctions on Afghanistan

The Kremlin is seeking closer cooperation with Afghanistan’s Taliban regime in combating ISIS.

Taliban fighters celebrate one year since they seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 15, 2022. Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo

Russia is moving to drop the Taliban’s designation as a terrorist organization, while urging the West to lift its own sanctions on Afghanistan, which the Taliban controls.

“Russia is finalizing work to remove the Taliban movement from its list of organizations designated as terrorist,” Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Russian Federal Security Service, announced on Oct. 4 during a meeting of national security chiefs from former Soviet states in Astana, Kazakhstan, as reported by Russia’s state news agency, TASS.