Putin’s Taliban Outreach: Threat or Opportunity?

Following North Korea, Russia is now seeking to cooperate with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

According to AFP, on Monday, Vasily Nebenzya, the UN ambassador of Russia, announced in a press conference that Russia is considering lifting sanctions against the Taliban.

“(The Taliban) are the de facto authorities. (They) are not going to stop, and we’ve been saying consistently that you have to recognize this fact and deal with them as such because, whether you like it or not, this movement is running the country now. You cannot simply ignore that,” he said.

The Taliban seized power in August 2021, taking control of Kabul, the Afghan capital, following the withdrawal of U.S. troops. However, due to their suppression of women’s rights, the international community, including the United States, has imposed sanctions on the Taliban. Consequently, the Taliban has not yet been recognized as the official government of Afghanistan.

A Taliban delegation attended a UN meeting in Qatar on September 30th. The meeting was set up to focus discussions on Afghanistan, but the Taliban delegation primarily focused on lifting international sanctions and releasing frozen overseas assets. They dismissed the issue of women’s rights, which led to the sanctions, as a domestic matter.

Head of the Taliban delegation, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, said, “Afghans are asking why they are being ganged up on, based on unilateral and multilateral sanctions,” and questioned whether the current sanctions are fair practices in Afghanistan, which has been unstable for nearly half a century due to foreign invasions and interference.

Kabir Taneja, a researcher at the Observer Research Foundation, noted that the Taliban is attempting to secure favorable conditions for the survival of their regime by leveraging the West against China and Russia while sidelining the issue of women’s rights.

The Nikkei newspaper reported that Russia is deepening its cooperation with the Taliban as a counter-terrorism measure as the threat from the Islamic State grows in its own country. Russian President Vladimir Putin is optimistic about recognizing the Taliban, and there are suggestions that Russia might provide funds or weapons in the future.