Russia’s Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry propose removing the Taliban from list of terrorist organizations

Russia’s Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry have advised President Vladimir Putin that the Taliban can be removed from Russia’s list of terrorist organizations, Zamir Kabulov, the director of the Second Asia Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told state news agency TASS.

According to Kabulov, Russia is now much closer to recognizing the Taliban government, which returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, than it was three years ago. He noted that without first removing the Taliban from Russia’s list of banned organizations, talks about recognizing the Taliban government would be “premature.”

Kabulov added that there are “certain issues that need to be overcome” before the Russian authorities make a decision on recognizing the Taliban government. He did not specify what these issues are.

In a comment to TASS, lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky clarified that the Taliban can only be removed from the list of terrorist organizations through a decision from Russia’s Supreme Court.

Russia’s Supreme Court officially designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization in 2003. In December 2017, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russian authorities engage with the Taliban only under two circumstances: when Russian citizens or citizens of allied nations have been harmed, or to persuade the Taliban to participate in peace negotiations in Afghanistan. Two years later, in November 2019, both Lavrov and Taliban representatives attended a conference in Moscow. Since then, Taliban delegations have visited Moscow several times, including after the group seized power in Afghanistan.

In October 2021, after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to power, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was nearing a decision to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations. However, he emphasized that the U.N. Security Council should do so first. At the same time, he acknowledged that the Russian authorities maintain a relationship with the Taliban and invite representatives to Moscow. Later, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was working to remove the Taliban’s “terrorist organization” status but that the final decision would be made by the country’s top leadership.