On March 31, Russia’s Supreme Court announced that it had received a petition from Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov seeking to lift the ban on the Taliban. The Supreme Court stated that it would hold a hearing regarding this petition on April 17. According to a law adopted by Russia last year, the court has the authority to suspend the official terrorist designation of any organization.
The Russian government designated the Afghan Taliban as a terrorist organization in 2003, and since then, any contact with the group has been punishable under Russian law. However, since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, Russia has been growing closer to the group – a far cry from Moscow’s approach during the Taliban’s previous stint in power.
During the Taliban’s rule from 1996 to 2001, Russia, along with its long-time ally India, worked to end the group’s dominance in Afghanistan. To that end, Russia supported the Northern Alliance, also known as the United Front. This small anti-Taliban coalition was led by the veteran Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, an ethnic Tajik nicknamed the “Lion of Panjshir.” The Northern Alliance controlled parts of northeastern Afghanistan, particularly the areas in and around the Panjshir Valley.
Once the Taliban regime fell amid the U.S. invasion following 9/11, Russia sought to establish positive working relations with the Karzai administration. Additionally, Russia aimed to integrate Afghanistan into regional frameworks, which included meetings of heads of state involving multiple countries, such as Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. Furthermore, Afghanistan gained observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – a China- and Russia-led grouping of largely Central Asian states – in 2012.
The Taliban’s victories in various regions of Afghanistan, combined with the Afghan government’s inability to effectively counter their advances, significantly influenced Russia’s approach toward the Taliban, even during President Ashraf Ghani’s administration. Taliban officials have claimed that their group maintained important contacts with Russia since at least 2007, although these interactions reportedly involved only “moral and political support.” A senior Taliban official from that time stated, “We had a common enemy. We needed support to rid ourselves of the United States and its allies in Afghanistan, and Russia wanted all foreign troops to leave Afghanistan as quickly as possible.”
For its part, Moscow acknowledged that it began maintaining contacts with the Taliban in 2015. This was confirmed by Russia’s special representative to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, who noted that both sides had been sharing intelligence since that time. According to Reuters, Moscow initially supported U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, but later became critical of their efforts. This shift was partly due to concerns over how the war was being handled and partly due to the deterioration of relations between Moscow and the West, especially following conflicts in Syria and the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Additionally, there are allegations that the Taliban received weapons from Russia during their fight against U.S.-led forces and their Afghan allies.
Since the Taliban’s return to power nearly four years ago, Russia appears to be strengthening its ties with the group without formally recognizing it. In 2022, a Taliban delegation attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Moscow. Two years later, in 2024, a delegation led by Abdul Manan Omari, the Taliban’s minister of labor and social affairs, participated in the same forum.
Additionally, during last year’s event, President Vladimir Putin was informed by his foreign and justice ministries that the Taliban could potentially be removed from the list of terrorist organizations. Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, stated that “this initiative reflects objective reality.”
Furthermore, the special Russian presidential envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said that removing the group from the banned list would enable Russia to decide whether to give formal recognition to the group as the legitimate government in Afghanistan. “Without this, it will be premature to talk about recognition. Therefore, work on this issue continues,” Kabulov said. “All considerations have been reported to the top leadership of Russia. We are waiting for a decision.”
Despite the growing closeness, the relationship between the two was complicated after the March 2024 attack in a hall complex near Moscow, killing at least 133 people and injuring 100. This attack was claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), a local branch of the Islamic State that is largely based in Afghanistan. The attack complicated Taliban-Russia relations but did not fundamentally alter the trajectory, as the Taliban is actively attempting to eradicate ISKP (unlike other terrorist groups, which the regime has been accused of tolerating).
In essence, Moscow has adjusted itself to the group’s regime in Afghanistan. Since Russia does not have any alternatives in Afghanistan, Moscow is obliged to provide support to the group at multilateral fora.
In the past four years, trade relations between Kabul and Moscow have grown significantly, according to Taliban officials. The Russian Business Center in Afghanistan estimates that trade between Russia and Afghanistan is approximately $1 billion, which is about five times higher than the trade volume between the two countries in 2021. However, Alexei Overchuk, the Russian deputy prime minister, estimated the trade figure to be much lower, at around $560 million. It is difficult to confirm these trade figures, as much of the trade involves multiple border crossings and is primarily settled in cash, with Russian customs data being classified.
Russia is a significant supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Afghanistan. According to Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Afghanistan imported over 275,000 tons of LPG from Russia last year, totaling $132 million. In January and February 2025, Russia’s LPG exports to Afghanistan increased by 52 percent, reaching 71,000 tons. With an estimated annual demand of 700,000 tons of LPG, traders anticipate considerable opportunities for increased Russian supplies to Afghanistan. Consequently, trade volumes between the two countries are expected to grow in the coming years.
Afghanistan holds significant geopolitical and security importance for Russia, regardless of the Taliban’s presence. Like many other countries, Russia is concerned about the threat posed by groups like ISKP that operate in Afghanistan. Furthermore, Russia seeks to utilize Afghanistan as a transit route through its Central Asian neighbors to connect with India and Pakistan. As a result, Russia’s geopolitical and geoeconomic interests have led to a shift in its policy toward the Taliban, who are the current de facto rulers of Afghanistan. If the Taliban are removed from the terrorist list and formally recognized, it would further strengthen the relationship between Russia and Afghanistan.
