Russia officially recognizes Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, eyes economic cooperation

Russia has officially recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. This was confirmed by Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan.

“Yes, it has been recognized,” Kabulov said in response to a question on the matter.

It was noted that on July 3, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko received copies of the credentials from the Afghan ambassador.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the official recognition of Afghanistan’s governing authorities would provide new impetus for effective cooperation between the two countries across various sectors. According to the Ministry, Moscow sees great prospects for collaboration with Kabul in areas such as trade, energy, transport, agriculture, and infrastructure development.

In October 2021, President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia was close to making a decision to remove the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations, but emphasized that the UN Security Council should take the lead on such a move. The Russian Foreign Ministry later confirmed that the process of delisting the Taliban as a terrorist organization was underway.

In April of this year, Russia’s Supreme Court granted the Prosecutor General’s request to suspend the ban on the Taliban’s activities and decided to remove the movement from the list of terrorist organizations.