Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that will allow the Russian government to recognise, if it deems appropriate, the Taliban fundamentalist movement as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
Russia, like the rest of the international community, considers the Taliban to be a group of coup plotters who regained power by force in 2021. However, this consideration has not prevented Moscow and Kabul from maintaining diplomatic and economic ties since then.
The law signed by Putin makes it possible to temporarily suspend the declaration of the Taliban as a “terrorist organisation banned in Russia” as long as there is evidence that the fundamentalist movement “stops carrying out activities aimed at promoting, justifying and supporting terrorism”.
The law fills a legal loophole that prevented the creation of a judicial mechanism to remove the Taliban from this category. The signing takes place just over a week after the Russian parliament, the Duma, approved the corresponding bill to lift the ban.
Once the court decision comes into legal force, the corresponding changes will be made to the list of terrorist organizations, official sources told the Russian news agency Interfax on condition of anonymity.
