The Taliban's Diplomacy: Russia has recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Russia recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and a white flag with a shahada was hung over the embassy of the state in Moscow. Four years ago, the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan. The path of the Taliban from a faction in the civil war to recognized statesmen — in the Izvestia article

The first recognition

The recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) took place on the eve of July 3. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko received copies of credentials from the newly appointed Ambassador of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to Russia, Mawlawi Gul Hassan. The agency announced this in its official Telegram channel.

"We will continue to assist Kabul in strengthening regional security and combating the threats of terrorism and drug crime. Deepening ties in education, sports, culture, and humanitarian fields is valuable for strengthening the friendship of our peoples," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Russia took the first step towards recognizing the IEA when prospects for cooperation in the trade and economic field emerged, with an emphasis on projects in the fields of energy, transport, agriculture, and infrastructure. SPIEF 2025 also had an impact, where representatives of Afghanistan discussed the possibilities of cooperation with Russian business and industry.

The long-awaited day for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was preceded by a statement by the Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states on June 30.

"We confirm our intention to assist Afghanistan in becoming a peaceful and stable country and our readiness to participate in international efforts for the development of Afghanistan with the central coordinating role of the United Nations. We call on the international community to step up humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people," the CSTO official Telegram channel quoted the ministers as saying.

The suspension of the ban on the Taliban's activities in Russia came into force on May 26, but the movement is still recognized as a terrorist organization in Tajikistan, Turkey and Canada. Despite this, Pakistan, China and Turkmenistan have also established diplomatic relations with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Political analyst Mikhail Komarov suggested that Russia's recognition of the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan would probably push the countries of the region to begin normalizing and formalizing bilateral relations with Kabul.

For the current composition of the Taliban, recognition by Russia is a major geopolitical victory. Despite extensive cooperation with the People's Republic of China, which informally recognized the IEA, the regional positions of the formation in Central Asia remained extremely unstable.

— Remaining a terrorist organization in the eyes of the vast majority of its neighbors, the Taliban could not count on building stable relations with regional actors. In an effort to overcome the current diplomatic isolation, Afghanistan has previously taken active steps to establish a dialogue with Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The recognition by the Russian Federation marks a significant shift in the regional security system of Central Asia, which for a long time was built bypassing first the pro—American and then the Taliban Kabul," Mikhail Komarov said.

According to him, the Uzbek authorities and business have been negotiating with Kabul for a long time on the use of Amu Darya's water resources and the opening of the Emirate's market to Uzbek producers. Tajikistan, which borders the northern regions of Afghanistan that are not de facto controlled by the Taliban, may also be interested in consolidating efforts with the current government to eliminate the terrorist threat. However, Russia's involvement in the process of establishing relations between the two countries seems unlikely due to the increased independence of local players.

The expert, however, emphasizes that at the same time, the lack of full control of the Taliban over the territory of Afghanistan and the continued activities of terrorist organizations in the country make the inclusion of the IEA in the regional system of relations premature and risky for both its neighbors and Russia. Also, the precedent of recognizing the Taliban movement by such a major global player as Russia as the official government of the country may negatively affect the system of international legitimacy established by international law.

"Any contacts with Afghanistan should take into account the risks of high instability within the country and the ongoing competition of the Taliban with significant terrorist groups," Mikhail Komarov added.

Shahada over the embassy

The national flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was carried through the embassy in a solemn ceremony by Charge d'affaires Jamal Nasil Garhwal. He took up the position after the resignation of the previous ambassador of Afghanistan, and in 2022 the Russian Foreign Ministry sent a note recognizing his status.

Garhwal will be replaced by the new head of the diplomatic mission, Mawlawi Gul Hassan, appointed to the post by the Taliban. Mawlawi Gul Hassan himself is known as a statesman in the current government and was a member of the collegial governing body of the Taliban movement, the Quetta Shura.

And after a while, a flag with the Shahada written in black ink on a white canvas was erected on the building of the Afghan Embassy in Moscow. Its translation reads as follows: "I testify that there is no other God but Allah, and I also testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." According to the plan, the national flag bears witness to monotheism and recognition that Muhammad fulfilled the mission of the prophet.

However, as Mikhail Komarov says, at the moment the prospects for diplomatic cooperation between Russia and the Taliban are significantly limited by the regional position of the Islamic Emirate. Being in the orbit of China's geopolitical influence and serious international isolation, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no prospects for Russia to establish broad cooperation.

With this in mind, the recognition itself should be interpreted not as the opening of a new chapter in relations between the countries, but as attempts to stabilize regional relations and de-escalate. For Russia, establishing stable contact with Afghanistan is a necessary step to prevent possible risks and threats to regional security against the background of the escalated international situation.

Movement Ideas

The proclaimed Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan existed under the auspices of the Taliban movement from 1996 to 2001 until its overthrow by Western countries. The Afghan resistance came to power in the country again in August 2021 after the United States withdrew troops who had been stationed in Afghanistan as peacekeepers for a long time. In August 2021, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resigned and left the country.

The founder of the movement is considered to be Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, an Afghan statesman and theologian, who later became the emir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Taliban profess an ideology that mixes both Pashtun nationalism and the Deobandi trend of Islamic fundamentalism. The enemy of the Taliban has long been the Khorasan branch of the Islamic State (IS, a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation), as well as other armed groups.

In September, representatives of the Taliban movement visited Moscow, where they met with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The visit of the Taliban was a logical continuation of the warm attitude towards Russia that remained — after the Second World War, the Soviet Union provided great assistance and support in the development of the Kingdom of Afghanistan.

Recognition as a goal

Today, the Taliban's capabilities related to Russian recognition are strongly mediated by the position of its neighbors in the region, Mikhail Komarov concluded. The political scientist noted that if Russia's position contributes to the normalization of relations between Afghanistan and neighboring countries, Kabul will have the opportunity to partially break out of isolation.

The country's economy, which is tied to the extraction of mineral resources, needs importers, as well as electricity suppliers, which Tajikistan can become if the Rogun HPP project is successfully completed. Against the background of the aggravation of relations with Pakistan due to the territorial claims of the Taliban, normalization of relations with Russia and the countries of Central Asia remains the only chance for the current authorities to obtain resources to stabilize the economic situation and retain power over the territory of Afghanistan.