Moscow to help Kabul on security, counter-terrorism and combating drug crime

4/7/2025 6:17

Russia said on Thursday it had

accepted the credentials of a new ambassador of Afghanistan,

making it the first nation to recognise the Taliban government

of the country.

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow saw

good prospects to develop ties and would continue to support

Kabul in security, counter-terrorism and combating drug crime.

It also saw significant trade and economic opportunities,

especially in energy, transport, agriculture and infrastructure.

"We believe that the act of official recognition of the

government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give

impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation

between our countries in various fields," the ministry said.

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a statement:

"We value this courageous step taken by Russia, and, God

willing, it will serve as an example for others as well."

No other country has formally recognised the Taliban government

that seized power in August 2021 as U.S.-led forces staged a

chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.

However, China, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and

Pakistan have all designated ambassadors to Kabul, in a step

towards recognition.

The Russian move represents a major milestone for the Taliban

administration as it seeks to ease its international isolation.

It is likely to be closely watched by Washington, which has

frozen billions in Afghanistan's central bank assets and

enforced sanctions on some senior leaders in the Taliban that

contributed to Afghanistan's banking sector being largely cut

off from the international financial system.

COMPLEX HISTORY

Russia has been gradually building relations with the Taliban,

which President Vladimir Putin said last year was now an ally in

fighting terrorism. Since 2022, Afghanistan has imported gas,

oil and wheat from Russia.

The Taliban was outlawed by Russia as a terrorist movement in

2003, but the ban was lifted in April this year. Russia sees a

need to work with Kabul as it faces a major security threat from

Islamist militant groups based in a string of countries from

Afghanistan to the Middle East.

In March 2024, gunmen killed 149 people at a concert hall

outside Moscow in an attack claimed by Islamic State. U.S.

officials said they had intelligence indicating it was the

Afghan branch of the group, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K),

that was responsible.

The Taliban says it is working to wipe out the presence of

Islamic State in Afghanistan.

Western diplomats say the Taliban's path towards wider

international recognition is blocked until it changes course on

women's rights. The Taliban has closed high schools and

universities to girls and women and placed restrictions on their

movement without a male guardian. It says it respects women's

rights in line with its strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Russia has a complex and bloodstained history in Afghanistan.

Soviet troops invaded the country in December 1979 to prop up a

Communist government, but became bogged down in a long war

against mujahideen fighters armed by the United States. Soviet

leader Mikhail Gorbachev pulled his army out in 1989, by which

time some 15,000 Soviet soldiers had been killed.