As Russia develops ties with the Taliban, the country is considering suspending the ban on the movement. The expected move, however, would not amount to a formal recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has asked the country’s Supreme Court to suspend a ban on the Taliban, Russian news agencies reported Monday.
The Supreme Court is due to consider the move in a hearing behind closed doors on April 17.
Russia, which has included the Taliban on a list of banned terrorist organizations in 2003, has been gradually building relations with the Islamic movement that rules Afghanistan.
President Vladimir Putin said in July last year that the Taliban was now an ally in the fight against terrorism. The Taliban government has been fighting for years against the rival jihadist group of the Islamic State of Khorasan (IS-K) in Afghanistan. In March 2024, IS-K claimed responsibility for an attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 140 people.
Russia’s warming relations with the Taliban
Moscow, which has a complicated history with Afghanistan following the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, has warmed relations with the Taliban since the US withdrawal from the country in 2021. But even before that, Taliban members visited Russia at the Kremlin’s invitation for talks on Afghanistan, despite the ban.
In December, the Russian parliament passed a law allowing the suspension of bans on groups that Moscow has designated as terrorist organizations. The law paved the way for Moscow to normalize relations with the Taliban.
Under the law, such a decision can be made by a court on the basis of a request from the Prosecutor General stating that the group has ceased “terrorist” activity. Russia’s FSB security service can then remove the group from the list.
The Supreme Court is almost certain to lift the ban on the Taliban in April. The expected move, however, would not amount to a formal recognition of the Taliban government and what it calls the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
World divided over Taliban isolation
No country currently recognizes the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal after 20 years of war.
The international community is increasingly divided over how to deal with the Taliban, who face no internal or external opposition. Since taking power, the movement imposed an extreme form of Islamic law that effectively bans women from public life.
Afghanistan’s rulers have pursued bilateral relations with major regional powers. Russia’s allies in Central Asia are also developing better relations with the Taliban. Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its own list of banned “terrorist” groups at the end of 2023.
Recent months have also seen increased engagement between the Taliban and the United States under President Donald Trump, mostly through prisoner exchanges and releases.
Edited by: Richard Connor
DW News
