KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Russia has signed five agreements (MoUs) with the Taliban, covering transport, transit, and trade expansion, just weeks after removing the group from its list of terrorist organizations.
The office of the Taliban Deputy Prime Minister said that the agreements were signed on Friday, May 16, in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan. The signing took place in the presence of Taliban Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar and Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Alexey Overchuk.
According to the Taliban statement, the MoUs also include cooperation between private companies from Russia and Afghanistan in oil and gas exploration, extraction, and refining. They also agreed to develop regional trade and establish an industrial-logistical complex in Afghanistan.
Baradar is leading a senior Taliban delegation to the 16th Kazan Forum, a major economic summit that promotes ties between Russia and Islamic countries. This is the second year the Taliban have been invited to the event, which hosts representatives from over 100 countries and international organizations.
On the sidelines of the Kazan event, Baradar inaugurated the first Afghanistan–Russia Business Forum. In his speech, he called for Russia’s cooperation in constructing the second Salang Tunnel, a key highway in Afghanistan, to boost trade and transit between the two countries.
Although no country formally recognizes the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate ruler, Russia has expanded its engagement with the group since it returned to power in 2021. Moscow has handed over the Afghanistan embassy to Taliban-appointed diplomats and maintains its diplomatic mission in Kabul.
Russia recently removed the Taliban from its terrorist list, ending a two-decade designation. Russian envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said the move “finally removed all obstacles to full cooperation between Russia and the Taliban.”
The agreements mark a further step in Russia’s growing ties with the Taliban, despite the group’s continued lack of international recognition.
