Moscow (Agencies): Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said that a decision to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations has been "taken at the highest level," according to state news agency TASS.
Confirming the development, President Vladimir Putin's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov said that although the decision has been made, however, it still needs to go through a number of legal formalities before it can be put into effect.
The move follows President Putin’s statement in July when he termed Taliban as an ally in the war against terrorism.
Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, following the withdrawal of US led forces after two decades of conflict, Russia has been gradually forging connections with the group despites its status as officially banned organisation in Russia.
Russia had designated Taliban as a terrorist group in 2003. The removal of the entity from the terrorist list would be an important step for Moscow in normalizing its ties with Afghanistan.
Moreover, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined the need of continuing a "pragmatic dialogue" with the current Afghan government, saying that communication with Kabul is essential to resolving issues and discussing an Afghan settlement. He also reaffirmed Russia's commitment to forging political, commercial, and economic relations with Afghanistan.
Lavrov did not mention the Taliban, but he did commend the efforts of the present Afghan authorities to fight the Islamic State, which is also outlawed in Russia, and to reduce drug manufacturing.
In addition, he pushed for the return of seized assets to Afghanistan by the United States (US) and demanded that Western powers assume accountability for the post-conflict reconstruction of the nation.
Russia’s relationship with Afghanistan has been complex, rooted in its history of military intervention during the Soviet era.
The Soviet army invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to support a pro-Moscow government but withdrew a decade later after suffering significant casualties. In recent years, Russia and its post-Soviet neighbors have suffered attacks from Islamist militant organizations linked to Afghanistan, the most famous being the March attack that took 145 lives near Moscow.
It is pertinent to mention that no country has formally recognised the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate leadership, however, Uzbekistan along with China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have accepted its envoys.