Putin wants to get closer to the Taliban

Russia is currently considering taking the Taliban off its list of terrorist organisations, officials have indicated.

While no final decision has yet been taken, one sign of their increasingly cordial relationship is the Taliban’s invitation to an international economic forum being held in Kazan, Russia, in May. The Kremlin has opened up discussions with the Taliban before, and Russia was one of the few nations to accredit a diplomat when the organization took control of Afghanistan.

Now Afghanistan’s political and economic crisis and the western sanctions on Russia due to the Ukraine war mean that both sides have something to gain from a stronger relationship.

In 1999, the UN security council adopted resolution 1267, in which the Taliban was found responsible for “the provision of sanctuary and training for international terrorists.” A few months later, Vladimir Putin signed a decree implementing the UN resolution and imposing sanctions against the Taliban.

In 2003, the Russian supreme court recognized the Taliban movement as a terrorist organization, saying it maintained links with illegal armed forces in Chechnya and sought to seize power in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Russia launched a regional initiative in 2017 to negotiate between the Kabul government and the Taliban as an effort to create a peacemaker role for itself.

Those negotiations were aimed at offering solutions to the Afghanistan crisis, and were usually held with the participation of China, Iran, Pakistan and Central Asian republics. Russia continued to maintain contact with the Taliban, despite having labeled them a terrorist group.

Interests and goals

Since the group took over control of Afghanistan, no foreign states have recognized the