Russia Becomes First Country To Officially admit Afghanistan's Taliban Government

Russia has become the first country to officially recognize Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, which occurred during a formal ceremony in Moscow on Saturday.

In attendance representing the Taliban was Molavi Gul Hassan Hassan, Kabul’s ambassador to Russia. In the ceremony he presented his credentials to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Yuryevich Rudenko.

Russian President Vladimir Putin directly approved the move, which the Kremlin has explained is aiming at strengthening cooperation in combating terrorism and drug trafficking. Moscow’s own embassy in Kabul has remained operational all of these years.

Image source: Afghanistan’s Embassy in Moscow

Russia’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, has described, „First of all, Afghanistan matters because of the terror threats that once stemmed from there. Second, drug trafficking. Since the current authorities are actively working to control this, maintaining a partnership is important.”

Without doubt, high on the minds of Moscow officials remains the attack on the Crocus City Hall venue near Moscow in March of last year by a group of gunmen who also detonated bombs.

It was the deadliest terror attack on Russian soil in decades, and claimed the lives of over 130 people. Russia blamed the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) group, which originates in the restive AfPak region.

In addition to counter-terror cooperation, Russian Foreign Ministry highlighted that recognizing the Taliban government enables broader cooperation in areas like trade and energy. Already deals have been signed related to oil, gas, and wheat.

It was in 2022 that Russia removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations, in order to pave the way for regional economic deals.

There is of course a huge irony in all of this and historic roles have definitively reversed. Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, US and Pakistani intelligence launched 'Operation Cyclone’ to arm the Mujahideen, out of which came the Taliban. Some of the militants the CIA trained, armed, and funded would later go on to form Al-Qaeda.

Russia has become the first country to recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan since the group took power in 2021. pic.twitter.com/Vz9tCGkIF6

— Xavi Ruiz (@xruiztru) July 5, 2025

It was in 2001 under the Bush administration that the US overthrew the Taliban regime which had been in power since 1996. After a two-decade plus long US coalition occupation, the US exited Afghanistan in 2021 under Biden, after which the Taliban returned to power.