Russia deepens rapprochement with the Taliban: Plans to remove group from list of terrorist organizations

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office filed a request with the Russian Supreme Court on Monday to suspend a ban on Taliban activities in the country, a step that could pave the way for removing them from the list of terrorist organizations.

As reported by the Russian state agency TASS, the hearing is scheduled for April 17 and will be held behind closed doors, a detail that underscores the sensitivity of the issue.

The origin of this initiative dates back to last week, when the Russian Foreign and Justice Ministries raised an appeal to President Vladimir Putin, urging him to reconsider the designation of the Taliban as a terrorist group, a classification dating back to 2003. Back then, Moscow blacklisted them for their support of separatists in the North Caucasus, a strategic region for Russia. However, the landscape has changed dramatically over the past two decades, and the Russian government appears ready to redefine its relationship with Kabul.

Russia seeks to counter its international isolation

The prosecutor general's request comes at a time when Russia is seeking to strengthen ties with actors that can counter its international isolation, intensified after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since the Taliban came to power following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan led by the Biden administration, Moscow has increased its interaction with the Afghan regime.

Putin himself has contributed to this narrative shift. In July 2024, during a speech, he called the Taliban "reliable allies" in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS), a common enemy operating in Central Asia and posing a threat to Russian regional security.

The road to normalization has not been improvised. On Dec. 28, 2024, Putin signed a law allowing for the temporary suspension of bans on organizations classified as terrorist, provided that certain criteria are met, such as having "ceased to carry out activity that promotes, justifies or supports terrorism, or constitutes crimes of terrorist nature, since being included in the list of terrorist organizations," reported U.S.-based media outlet Politico.

Putin also seeks to strengthen ties with Syrian leader al-Sharaa

Putin recently sent a letter to Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Muhamad al-Golani, in which he expressed support for efforts to ensure Syria's territorial integrity and offered Moscow's "practical cooperation," Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, per Reuters.

The message was sent against a backdrop of high tensions in Syria, due to the fact that, recently, members of Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS) the radical Islamist group led by al-Sharaa, have been accused of carrying out torture and murder against members of various minorities, including Christians and Alawites, the branch of Shiite Islam that includes former President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime was a close ally of Russia and Turkey and is currently in exile in Moscow.