Russia becomes the first country to recognize Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan

MOSCOW – Russia became the first country on Thursday to officially recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan since it took power in 2021, after Moscow withdrew the group from its list of prohibited organizations.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had received skills titles from the Afghanistan ambassador, Gul Hassan Hassan. The official recognition of the Afghan government will promote “productive bilateral cooperation”, the ministry said in a statement.

The Afghan Ministry of Affairs described this as a historic stadium and quoted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban, Amir Khan Muttaqi as welcoming the decision as “a good example for other countries”.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of American forces and NATO. Since then, they have requested international recognition while applying their strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Although no country has officially recognized the administration of the Taliban so far, the group had engaged in high -level talks with many nations and established diplomatic links with countries such as China and the United Arab Emirates.

However, the Taliban government has been relatively isolated on the world scene, largely on its restrictions on women.

Although the Taliban initially promised a more moderate rule than during their first stay in power from 1996 to 2001, he began to apply restrictions to women and girls shortly after taking control of 2021. Women are excluded from most jobs and public places, including parks, baths and gymnasiums, while girls are prohibited from education beyond the sixth year.

Russian officials recently underlined the need to engage with the Taliban to help stabilize Afghanistan and raised the Taliban ban in April.

Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, said in remarks broadcast by television of the State Channel, that the decision to officially recognize the Taliban government had been made by President Vladimir Putin on the advice of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov.

Zhirnov said that the decision proves that Russia’s “sincere solution to the development of full -fledged relations with Afghanistan”.