- Safiu Kehinde
Russia’s parliament has, on Tuesday, approved a bill to revoke Moscow’s designation of the Taliban as a banned “terrorist” organisation.
Since their seizure of power in Afghanistan which forced the United States to withdraw its troop in 2021, Moscow has reportedly courted relations with the Talibans.
According to AFP, officials have since been pushing to remove the Islamist group from Moscow’s list of outlawed “terrorist” groups.
The State Duma passed a bill outlining a mechanism for groups to be legally removed from the list — putting the necessary legal framework in place for an expected future decision.
However, Russia’s upper-house Federation Council will consider the bill on Friday, before it passes to President Vladimir Putin to sign into law.
AFP reported that in a visit to Kabul last month, top Russian security officials told their Afghan counterparts that Moscow would soon remove the Taliban from the list of banned organisations.
Under the proposed system, Russia’s Prosecutor General would file a request with a Russian court outlining that a group has “ceased” its activities “in support of terrorism”. A judge could then rule to remove the designation.
The expected move would not amount to a formal recognition of the Taliban government and what it calls the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” — a step no country has yet taken.
Putin called the Taliban “allies in the fight against terrorism” earlier this year, while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called for the West to remove sanctions on Afghanistan and take “responsibility” for reconstruction efforts in the country.