Moscow is going to remove the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations

May 29, 2024 2:29 am

Moscow is going to remove Afghanistan’s Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations. As a result of the incident, Russia invited the Taliban government to its largest annual economic forum.

The Express Tribune reported this information on Monday citing a Russian diplomat.

According to the report of the Pakistani media, after the withdrawal of the US-led forces from Afghanistan at the end of 20 years of war, the Taliban seized power in the country in August 2021. After that, Russia gradually developed good relations with the Taliban government of Afghanistan.

According to Russian media, the Taliban has been on Russia’s list of banned terrorist organizations for a long time. However, the country’s foreign and justice ministries have recommended to President Putin to lift sanctions on the Taliban. Russia will soon remove the Taliban from the sanctions list in advance of this recommendation, the country’s news agency RIA Novosti reported.

In this situation, the Director of the Asia Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Zamir Kabulov, told the state news agency TASS that the invitation to the Taliban to join the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum from June 5 to 8 has been widened. He also noted that Afghan leaders have traditionally been interested in buying Russian fuel and oil products.

The St. Petersburg Economic Forum used to invite Western CEOs and investors from London and New York. But that situation has changed significantly in the midst of the Ukraine war. The war triggered the biggest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Russia officially designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization in 2003. However, it is also claimed from various sources that Russia is in regular contact with this force.