Moscow
Taliban will be removed from the list of banned terrorist organisations, three years after they returned to power in Afghanistan, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency said on Monday (May 27).
Moscow has for years encouraged relations with the Taliban, holding multiple rounds of talks and boosting trade with Afghanistan despite international sanctions.
"We're taking the same approach as Kazakhstan and removing the Taliban from our list of terrorist groups," RIA Novosti quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.
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Recently, Kazakhstan also removed the Taliban from its list of banned organisations.
While this move might strengthen diplomatic ties between Afghanistan and Russia, it doesn't constitute formal recognition of the Taliban government, which they refer to as the 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan'.
Taliban seized power in 2021 from a US-backed government. They have enforced an extreme form of Islamic law that effectively bans women from public life.
"They are the existent power. We are not indifferent to Afghanistan. And above all, our allies in Central Asia are not indifferent," Lavrov said.
According to state media reports, Russia also invited Taliban representatives to its flagship Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum.
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The event, once hailed as the bedrock of Russia's economic ties with the West, now seems overshadowed by Russia's years of cultivating connections with the Taliban.
The head of US forces in Afghanistan claimed in 2018 that Moscow was providing weapons to the group -- accusations Moscow denied at the time.
Notably, the Taliban has been designated a terrorist organisation in Russia since 2003.
Russia's own history with Afghanistan is filled with tension. In the 1980s, the Soviet Union waged a brutal decade-long war to support a pro-Kremlin government against mujahideen insurgents.
(With inputs from agencies)