Russia becomes first country to recognise Afghanistan’s Taliban government
The Afghan foreign minister called the move a ‘brave decision’ and said it would serve as an example for others.
Russia on Thursday accepted the credentials of Afghanistan’s new ambassador, becoming the first country to officially recognise the Taliban government in Kabul since the Islamist group seized power in August 2021, CNN reported.
The Russian foreign ministry said that the official recognition of the government in Afghanistan will give “impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields”.
While the Taliban has exchanged ambassadors with China and the United Arab Emirates, and maintains a long-standing political office in Qatar, none of these countries have formally recognised it as the government of Afghanistan.
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi called Russia’s move a “brave decision” and said it would serve as an “example for others”, Al Jazeera reported.
After the 2021 withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan, Russia was among the few countries to maintain a diplomatic presence in Kabul.
In recent years, Russia has increased its diplomatic engagement with the Taliban.
In April, it formally removed the Taliban from its list of designated terrorist organisations.
A Taliban delegation participated in Russia’s flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg in both 2022 and 2024, and the group’s top diplomat met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow in October, according to Al-Jazeera.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as the United States forces left the country following a 20-year conflict. On 14 August, 2024 – the day it completed three years at the helm – the United Nations urged the international community not to “normalise” the Taliban regime.
The United Nations refers to the group as the “de facto authorities” in Afghanistan.
The global body said that the human rights situation in Afghanistan had deteriorated since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. UN experts highlighted the government’s “institutionalised system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls”.
The Taliban had also been accused of severe human rights abuses, especially against women and minorities, when it was in power earlier between 1996 and 2001.
