Putin Wants To Get Closer To The Taliban

(MENAFN- Asia Times) Russia is currently considering taking the Taliban off its list of terrorist organisations, officials have indicated .

While no final decision has yet been taken, one sign of their increasingly cordial relationship is the Taliban's invitation to an international economic forum being held in Kazan, Russia, in May. The Kremlin has opened up discussions with the Taliban before, and Russia was one of the few nations to accredit a diplomat when the organization took control of Afghanistan.

Now Afghanistan's Political and economic crisis and the western sanctions on Russia due to the Ukraine war mean that both sides have something to gain from a stronger relationship.

In 1999, the UN security council adopted resolution 1267 , in which the Taliban was found responsible for“the provision of sanctuary and training for international terrorists.” A few months later, Vladimir Putin signed a decree implementing the UN resolution and imposing sanctions against the Taliban.

In 2003, the Russian supreme court recognized the Taliban movement as a terrorist organization, saying it maintained links with illegal armed forces in Chechnya and sought to seize power in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Russia launched a regional initiative in 2017 to negotiate between the Kabul government and the Taliban as an effort to create a peacemaker role for itself.

Those negotiations were aimed at offering solutions to the Afghanistan crisis, and were usually held with the participation of China, Iran, Pakistan and Central Asian republics. Russia continued to maintain contact with the Taliban, despite having labeled them a terrorist group.

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Since the group took over control of Afghanistan, no foreign states have recognized the Taliban government. There are few signs yet that many are close to doing so, partly because of the Taliban's continuing erosion of the rights of women and violation of human rights more generally.

The Taliban wants international sanctions to be withdrawn, Afghanistan's UN seat to be given to them and frozen assets to be released – which will help the country's economic development.

If international sanctions are withdrawn, Afghanistan should benefit economically from developing the important Lapis-Lazuli trade corridor , which links Afghanistan to Istanbul and Europe, and the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway line . Being taken off Russia's terrorism list would be a first step toward international recognition of the current Afghan government.

Russia also benefits from its cooperation with the Taliban. It aims to present itself as the region's security provider, expecting to be favorably compared with the US, which failed to create stability in Afghanistan. Moscow considers Central Asia a zone of historical interest (the Soviet Union was involved in an armed conflict within Afghanistan from 1979-89).

It is also concerned about instability in the region, drug trafficking and threats from Islamist terrorism, especially after the recent ISIS-K attack on the Crocus City Hall, Moscow .

To increase its geoeconomic and geopolitical presence in the region, Russia can use the alliances it has already built – the Collective Security Treaty Organization (a military alliance with Armenia Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, formed in 2002) and the Eurasian Economic Union (an economic union of five post-Soviet states). Russia's 2023 foreign policy plan mentions prospects for Afghanistan's integration into“the Eurasian space for cooperation.”

Russia's relationship building

The increasing cooperation between the Taliban and Russia has implications in terms of the ongoing rivalry between Russia and the West. Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, Moscow has tried to get other nations to support its strategic view of why the war is happening.

This version of history and policy positions Russia as a protector of traditional religions and values and places it among major world civilizations, contrasting it with the“godless” West. It also details the right of civilizations to exist and develop within their own values, a viewpoint that should appeal to the Taliban and that Russia presents as a contrast to the West.

In 2022, Putin said :

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