The Taliban is hopeful political and economic relations between Afghanistan and Russia will expand after Moscow removed the name ‘Taliban’ from its list of banned groups.
Speaking to Russia’s TASS news agency, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the removal of the Taliban from Russian’s banned groups was an important step as it would pave the way for full diplomatic and economic relations with the country.
The Russia supreme court on Thursday suspended the ban on the Taliban, which Russia had designated for more than two decades as a terrorist organisation, in a move that paves the way for Moscow to normalise ties with the leadership of Afghanistan.
No country currently recognises the new government in Kabul that seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.
But Russia has been gradually building ties with the movement, which President Vladimir Putin said last year was now an ally in fighting terrorism.
Mujahid added: “We consider this step very important, and in the future, Afghanistan and Russia will definitely establish good relations in the economic and diplomatic fields.”
He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin had adopted the right policy towards Afghanistan.
To a question about the Islamic Taliban delegation’s visit to Russia, he said that no decision had been made in this regard so far.
A large-scale Russia-Afghanistan forum will take place on the sidelines of the KazanForum event in the Russian city of Kazan in May.
TASS news agency quoted , Zamir Kabulov, the foreign minister’s advisor and special presidential envoy for Afghanistan, as pointing out that the Russian Supreme Court’s move to suspend a ban on the ‘Taliban movement’ removed a major legal obstacle to the development of political, economic and other official relations with Afghanistan’s new authorities.
