MOSCOW: Russia said on Thursday it had accepted the credentials of a new ambassador of Afghanistan, making it the first nation to recognize the Taleban government of the country. In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow saw good prospects to develop ties and would continue to support Kabul in security, counterterrorism and combating drug crime. It also saw significant trade and economic opportunities, especially in energy, transport, agriculture and infrastructure.

“We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields,” the ministry said. Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a statement: “We value this courageous step taken by Russia, and, God willing, it will serve as an example for others as well.” The announcement was made after Muttaqi met Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov in Kabul on Thursday.

No other country has formally recognized the Taleban government that seized power in Aug 2021 as US-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. However, China, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Pakistan have all designated ambassadors to Kabul, in a step towards recognition. The Russian move represents a major milestone for the Taleban administration as it seeks to ease its international isolation.

It is likely to be closely watched by Washington, which has frozen billions in Afghanistan’s central bank assets and enforced sanctions on some senior leaders in the Taleban that contributed to Afghanistan’s banking sector being largely cut off from the international financial system.

Russia has been gradually building relations with the Taliban, which President Vladimir Putin said last year was now an ally in fighting terrorism. Since 2022, Afghanistan has imported gas, oil and wheat from Russia. The Taleban was outlawed by Russia as a terrorist movement in 2003, but the ban was lifted in April this year. Russia sees a need to work with Kabul as it faces a major security threat from Islamist militant groups based in a string of countries from Afghanistan to the Middle East.

In March 2024, gunmen killed 149 people at a concert hall outside Moscow in an attack claimed by Islamic State. US officials said they had intelligence indicating it was the Afghan branch of the group, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), that was responsible. The Taleban says it is working to wipe out the presence of Islamic State in Afghanistan.

Western diplomats say the Taleban’s path towards wider international recognition is blocked until it changes course on women’s rights. The Taleban has closed high schools and universities to girls and women and placed restrictions on their movement without a male guardian. It says it respects women’s rights in line with its strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Russia has a complex and bloodstained history in Afghanistan. Soviet troops invaded the country in Dec 1979 to prop up a Communist government, but became bogged down in a long war against mujahideen fighters armed by the United States. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev pulled his army out in 1989, by which time some 15,000 Soviet soldiers had been killed. – Reuters