Russia's Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry have proposed that Russian President Vladimir Putin could remove the Taliban from the list of banned organizations, Russian state-controlled news agency TASS reported on May 27, citing a Foreign Ministry official.
According to TASS, the step would pave the way for Russia to officially recognize Afghanistan's Taliban government, which seized power in 2021 and has not received de jure recognition from any country in the world.
The Taliban previously ruled over Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and enforced strict Sharia, religious law, that brutally persecuted women, political opponents, and religious minorities.
Since returning to power in 2021, the UN estimates that 1,000 civilians in Afghanistan have been killed.
News emerged in April that a delegation from the Taliban had been invited to the International Economic Forum of Russia and the Islamic World in Kazan in Tatarstan, despite the fact that the Taliban is officially banned in Russia.
Russia designated the Taliban a terrorist group in 2003, along with Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Nouruddin Azizi, the Taliban's acting industry minister, reportedly traveled to Kazan to attend the event, which took place between May 14 and May 19.
TASS quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry official as saying that Russia does not plan to mark the upcoming 105th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Afghanistan, but this is "for a purely formal reason," namely the "lack of official recognition" of the Taliban.
Russia's Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry are now awaiting a formal decision from the Kremlin, TASS said.
Mykola Kolisnyk
