Russia officially recognises Taliban government in Afghanistan: agencies

Russia has officially recognised the Taliban government in Afghanistan as it seeks closer ties with Kabul’s leadership, Russian news agencies reported on Thursday.

Moscow’s special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, told the state news agency Ria Novosti that the government had “recognised” the Taliban, which refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Russia’s foreign affairs ministry also confirmed the news to the TASS news agency.

Afghanistan’s foreign minister said on Thursday that Russia’s decision to become the first country to recognise their government was a “brave decision”.

“This brave decision will be an example for others… Now that the process of recognition has started, Russia was ahead of everyone,” said Amir Khan Muttaqi in a video of a meeting with Dmitry Zhirnov, the Russian ambassador to Kabul, posted on X.