Russia has extended formal recognition to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Local Russian media on Thursday quoted the Foreign Ministry saying “We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields,”
The Taliban, an Islamist militant group, seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces, after toppling the Western-backed government.
“The Foreign Ministry confirms this,” a ministry representative said when asked to comment on reports about Russia’s decision to recognize the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on recommendation from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an effort to show Moscow’s intent to develop ties, TASS quoted Dmitry Zhirnov, a Russian foriegn ministry official as saying.
“This is a decision that was taken in principle by the president of the Russian Federation at the suggestion of the Russian foreign minister. It demonstrates Russia’s sincere desire to establish a comprehensive partnership with Afghanistan,” the diplomat told Rossiya-1 television.
Earlier on Thursday, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko accepted credentials from Gul Hassan, Afghanistan’s new ambassador to Russia. The ambassador came to Moscow on July 1.
On April 17, the Russian Supreme Court granted a plea from the prosecutor general to suspend the ban on the Taliban’s activities in the country. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the removal of the Taliban’s status as a terrorist group opened the way to building a comprehensive partnership with Kabul in the interests of the Russian and Afghan peoples.
(UNI)
