The Russian Supreme Court has officially removed the Taliban classification as a “terrorist organization”, which ends a designation that has been standing since 2003.
The decision on Thursday followed a closed door hearing in response to a petition filed by Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov. The request to make the Taliban critical comes after a series of diplomatic exchange between Russian authorities and Taliban representatives in recent years.
Since the acquisition of Afghanistan’s Taliban in August 2021, Moscow has slowly softened its stance.
Moscow has maintained informal contact with the Taliban since 2015 and is suspected to have a group supply with weapons in the past. In March 2022, the relationship between the two became official, both sides established formal diplomatic relations.
Taliban officials have been hosted on major economic forums in Russia, and the top diplomat of the group met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow last October. President Vladimir Putin has gone to describe Taliban as “ally in the fight against terrorism”, especially in a joint effort to deal with the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), which has claimed fatal attacks in both Afghanistan and Russia, including March 2024 MOSCOW CONCORT HALL MASTACRE.
Despite the court’s decision, Russia has stopped giving formal diplomatic recognition. The Russian envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov has earlier stated that such recognition will only come after fulfilling the International demands of the Taliban, including the formation of an inclusive government and especially better human rights for women.
The move keeps Russia in line with regional powers like Kazakhstan, which removed the Taliban last year, and China, who appointed an ambassador to Kabul in 2023. Russia has already opened a trade representative office in Afghanistan and sees the country as a major transit route for energy exports to Southeast Asia.
While full recognition is pending, the court’s ruling is a symbolic change in Moscow’s foreign policy.
