• The gesture aims to create friendly connections with the rulers of Afghanistan.
• Moscow believes that the Taliban is a potential economic partner.
• “The decision immediately entered the legal force.”

The Russian Supreme Court on Thursday canceled the Taliban’s designation for a “terrorist organization”, a symbolic gesture designed to build friendly relations with the de facto rulers of Afghanistan.

The organization seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, when U.S. forces supported the country’s internationally recognized government.

Moscow called the U.S. withdrawal a “failure” and has since taken steps to normalize relations with the Taliban authorities, view them as potential economic partners and allies in the fight against terrorism.

“Previously established activities that prohibit the Taliban, including on the list of unified federal organizations recognized as terrorists, have been suspended,” Supreme Court Justice Oleg Nefedov said in a ruling. tass National News Agency.

He added: “The decision was immediately into the legal force.”

Russian prosecutors ordered the court to remove the group’s “terrorist” designation last month after top Taliban officials traveled to Russia several times.

The Taliban delegation held the Russian flagship economic forum in 2022 and 2024 in St. Petersburg, where the organization’s top diplomats met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow in October last year.

The decision to suspend the label does not mean that the formal endorsement of the Taliban authorities seeking international legitimacy.

However, this helps avoid the embarrassment of Russian officials who meet with representatives of the organization during a high-profile event.

Change attitude

Over the past two decades, Moscow’s attitude towards the Taliban has changed dramatically.

The organization was established in 1994 during the Afghan Civil War and was mainly a former fighter that fought the Soviet Union in the 1980s by former Jihadist fighters.

Soviet-The Afghan war killed and injured thousands of Soviets, causing Moscow’s failure to exacerbate the Soviet demise.

Moscow placed the Taliban on the terrorist blacklist in 2003 to support separatists in the North Caucasus.

But the Taliban returned to power in 2021, forcing Russia and other countries in the region to change the struggle as they compete for influence.

Russia was the first country to open a business representative office in Kabul after the Taliban took over and announced plans to use Afghanistan as a natural gas hub to Southeast Asia.

In July 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Taliban a “fight against terrorism.”

Both Russian and Taliban authorities have been trying to eliminate Desh (also known as IS-K), a group responsible for deadly attacks in Afghanistan and Russia, including 145 people attacked at the Moscow concert hall in March 2024.

Other countries have also tried to establish ties with the Taliban authorities, although no state has officially recognized them.

Kazakhstan announced last year that it had removed the Taliban from its list of “terrorist organizations”.

In 2023, China became the first country to appoint a new ambassador to Kabul and established evolving economic ties with the new rulers.