Russia has become the first country to embrace Afghanistan’s Taliban government since the group came to power in 2021, marking a dramatic hostile turn from deep hostilities that have built up years of quiet involvement and marked their bonds during the group’s first mission of power.
The Taliban attacked Kabul in August four years ago, and several countries reached out to them, including several countries that have historically considered the group as enemies, taking over from the government of then President Ashraf Ghani. However, no one officially recognized the Taliban until Thursday.
So what exactly did Russia do, and will the Moscow move pave the way for others to begin full-scale diplomatic relations with the Taliban?
What did Russia say?
The Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement that Moscow will pave the way for bilateral cooperation with Afghanistan, the Taliban government’s perceptions.
“We believe that the act of official recognition of the U.S. Emirates of Afghanistan’s U.S. Emirates government will inspire the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in a variety of areas,” the statement said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would call for cooperation in energy, transportation, agriculture and infrastructure.
How did the Taliban respond?
The Afghan Foreign Ministry wrote in X-Post on Thursday that Russian ambassador to Kabul Dmitry Zirnov met Afghanistan’s Amir Khan Muttaki and informed the Kremlin’s decision to recognize Afghanistan’s Taliban government.
Dmitry Zirnov, ambassador to the Russian Federation, called on IEA-Offerign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi.
During the meeting, the Russian Federation ambassador officially communicated the government’s decision to recognize Afghanistan’s U.S. Emirates.
– Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Afghanistan (@mofa_afg) July 3, 2025
Muttaqi stated in a video posted to X:
What is the history of Russia and Afghanistan?
In 1979, troops from the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to establish a communist government. This led to a decade of war with Afghan Mujahideen fighters supported by the US military. Around 15,000 Soviet soldiers were killed in the war.
In 1992, Moscow closed its diplomatic mission to Afghanistan after a rocket launched by rebel groups struck the Russian embassy in Kabul.
Mohammad Najibla, a former Russian-backed president who had been seeking refuge in UN compounds in Kabul since 1992, was killed by the Taliban in 1996 when the group first came to power.
In the late 1990s, Russia supported the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
Then, on September 11, 2001, a suicide attacker affiliated with the armed group Al Qaeda seized a US passenger plane and collided with two high-rise buildings in New York City, killing nearly 3,000 people. This led to the so-called “war on terrorism” by then President George W. Bush.
In the aftermath of the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first foreign leaders to call Bush and express his support for his sympathy and pledge. Putin provided the US with assistance in attacking Afghanistan. Russia worked with the United States by sharing information, opening Russian airspace for US flights, establishing bases with Russia’s Central Asian allies, and providing airspace access to flights from the United States.
In 2003, after the Taliban was expelled from power by a US-led coalition, Russia designated the group as a terrorist movement.
However, in recent years it has warmed the Taliban as Russia is growing more and more as it is concerned about the rise of the ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) group, the regional branch of the ISIS/ISIL armed groups. The Taliban sees ISIS-K as a rival and enemy.
The Taliban’s return to power in 2021 is more open to Russia’s relationship with the group, accompanied by the withdrawal of US troops in support of the Ghani government. The Taliban delegation participated in the Russian flagship Economic Forum held in St. Petersburg in 2022 and 2024.
Due to the growing threat of ISIS-K (the group claimed a March 2024 attack at a Moscow concert hall in which gunmen killed 149 people), Russia grew close to the Taliban.
In July 2024, Russian President Putin called the Taliban “an alliance in the fight against terrorism.” Muttaqi met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow in October 2024.
In April 2025, Russia lifted its “terrorist” designation from the Taliban. Lavrov said “the new authorities in Kabul are real,” adding that Moscow should adopt “an in-practical, ideological policy” against the Taliban.
How is the rest of the world involved with the Taliban?
The international community does not officially recognize the Taliban. The UN calls the administration the “Taliban de facto authorities.”
Despite not officially recognizing the Taliban as an Afghan government, several countries have recently been involved diplomatically with the group.
China: Even before the US withdraws from Afghanistan, Beijing built relationships with the Taliban and hosted leaders in 2019 for peace talks.
However, since the group returned to power, the relationship has been further covered, including major investments. In 2023, a subsidiary of the state-run China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) signed a 25-year contract with the Taliban to extract oil from the Amdarya River basin, spanning Central Asian countries and Afghanistan. This marked the first major foreign investment since the Taliban acquisition.
In 2024, Beijing recognized former Taliban spokesman Bilal Karim as China’s official envoy at the official ceremony, but it was clear that he had no recognition of the Taliban government itself.
And in May this year, China hosted the Pakistani Foreign Minister and the Taliban for the Trilateral Conclave.
Pakistan: ties with Pakistani groups, the international lead supporter of the Taliban, have been significantly worn since 2021.
Islamabad is currently accusing the Taliban government of allowing armed groups evacuating Afghan soil, particularly Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to target Pakistan. The TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, operates on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and has been responsible for many of Pakistan’s most deadly attacks in recent years. Afghanistan has denied Pakistan’s allegations.
In December 2024, Pakistani forces launched airstrikes in Paktia province, Afghanistan. Pakistan said TTP fighters were targeting locations where they were seeking evacuation, but the Taliban government said 46 civilians in Afghanistan had been killed in airstrikes.
This year, Pakistan also strengthened the deportation of Afghan refugees and further emphasized the bond. Earlier this year, Pakistan said it hopes that 3 million Afghans will leave the country.
Tensions continue over armed fighter jets from Pakistan Afghanistan. On Friday, Pakistani forces said they had killed 30 fighters who tried to cross the border from Afghanistan. The Pakistani military said all the fighters killed belong to the TTP or its affiliates.
Still, Pakistan tried to manage its complex relationship with Afghanistan. In April this year, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishak Dal met Muttaki and other Afghan officials in Kabul. Dar and Muttaqi spoke again in May.
India: New Delhi closed the Kabul Embassy in 1996 after the Taliban took over. India has refused to recognize the group that it deemed to be representative of Pakistan’s intelligence reporting agency.
New Delhi reopened its Kabul embassy after the Taliban was removed from power in 2001. However, the embassies and Indian consulates were repeatedly attacked in the following years by allies, including the Taliban and Hakkani groups.
However, India’s approach has changed since the Taliban returned to Kabul and amid growing tensions between Pakistan and the group. The embassy was reopened and was temporarily closed in 2021, sending diplomats to meet Taliban officials. Then, in January 2025, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Mithri flew to Dubai for a meeting with Muttaki.
And in May, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar spoke to Muttaqi over the phone.
Iran: Like Russia and India, Iran saw the Taliban as hostile during group control in the late 1990s. In 1998, Taliban fighters killed an Iranian diplomat at Mazar y Sharif, causing further damage.
However, it sees ISIS-K as a much greater threat. Since the Taliban returned to Kabul, and even earlier, Tehran has been involved with the group.
On May 17, Muttaqi visited Iran to participate in the Tehran Dialogue Forum. He also met with Foreign Minister Abbas Aragci and President Masdo Pezeskian.
After Russia, do others recognize the Taliban?
Countries may decide when to formally recognize Taliban governments, but many are already working with the group on a comparable capacity.
“Although Afghanistan’s neighbours do not necessarily have many options, other than engaging with the Taliban for both strategic and security purposes,” Kabir Taneha, deputy director of the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, told Al Jazeera.
“Most people don’t, but at least they forced the reality that the Taliban was in Afghanistan for a while.”
Taneja said other countries that could follow the lawsuit after Russia admitted the Taliban include China and some of the countries in China.
“Russian Taliban perception is a geopolitical drama,” Taneja said.
“It solidifies Moscow’s position in Kabul, but more importantly, it gives the Taliban itself a major victory. For the Taliban, international recognition was the central purpose of regional and further outreach.”
