Moscow: Russia's Supreme Court is set to decide this month whether to remove the Taliban from the country’s list of banned terrorist organizations, according to Russian news agencies.
The state-run TASS news agency, citing the Supreme Court’s press service, reported that the court will issue its ruling on April 17 regarding the Taliban’s status.
It is expected that, following a legal request from the Prosecutor General’s Office, the court will lift the existing ban on the Taliban in a closed-door session.
In December, President Vladimir Putin signed legislation, approved by parliament, allowing for the removal of banned groups from the terrorist list under specific conditions.
According to the law, if a group ceases its terrorist activities, the court can remove its designation as a terrorist organization upon the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Subsequently, Russia’s security agency can formally delist the group.
However, removing the Taliban from Russia’s terrorist list does not equate to recognizing their government officially. As of now, no country has formally recognized the Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan.
Moscow has recently strengthened its relations with Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal. Despite being under Russian sanctions since 2003, Taliban representatives have traveled to Russia for discussions on Afghanistan, often at the invitation of the Kremlin.
Last summer, President Putin described the Taliban as Russia’s “allies” in counterterrorism efforts, arguing that they control Afghanistan and are invested in maintaining stability.
The Taliban has been engaged in a prolonged conflict against the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), an extremist group that has carried out numerous attacks within Afghanistan.
In 2024, ISIS-K claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a concert hall in Moscow, which left over 140 people dead. The attack was the deadliest terrorist incident in Russia in the past two decades.
