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By Hugh Cameron
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Russian lawmakers have put forward a bill that could pave the way for the Taliban to be removed from the country's list of recognized terrorist organizations.
The bill has been submitted to the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, by seven senators and five Duma members, the Kyiv Independent reported.
It outlines a new process to remove organizations from the registry if they no longer engage in terrorist activities, despite their past actions.
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"The amendments proposed by the bill are aimed at eliminating the defined legal gaps and securing the possibility of temporarily suspending the ban on the activities of an organization included in the list of terrorist organizations by a court decision," the bill reads.
Political scientist Pavel Sklyanchuk said that this "would allow the Taliban (an organization recognized as terrorist and banned in the Russian Federation) to be excluded from the relevant register."
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Despite being the ruling power in Afghanistan, the Taliban is currently recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S., U.K., and many other nations.
It has remained on Russia's list of "Organizations Recognized as Terrorist" since 2003. At that time, Russia blamed the group for supporting separatists movements in the North Caucasus, and was supportive of the American-led coalition's efforts to overthrow the movement.
If this legislation is passed, "this would certainly be a victory [for] the Taliban," Vanda Felbab-Brown, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Foreign Policy program, told Newsweek. However, she said that this would fall in line with Russia's years-long effort to "strengthen relations" with the group.
"It prioritized getting rid of the U.S. from Afghanistan, from its backyard, from its neighborhood as more important than the uncertainties about terrorism, migration and civil war should the Taliban come to power," Felbab-Brown added.
Following the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2021, and the ousting of President Ashraf Ghani, Russia has committed to normalizing relations with the group. While it has not yet recognized them as the legitimate representatives of the country, it has sent envoys to the Afghanistan and organized diplomatic meetings aimed at fostering closer ties.
In October, Russia hosted Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, alongside representatives from India, Iran, China, Pakistan and several post-Soviet states at a meeting in Moscow.
During the meeting, the parties "reaffirmed their unwavering support for Afghanistan as an independent, united and peaceful state."
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Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went on to call for Western countries to lift sanctions on Afghanistan, saying: "We urge Western countries to recognize their responsibility for the post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan, lift sanctions restrictions and return the appropriated assets of Kabul."
In October, the Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov also told reporters that the government was "putting finishing legal touches" on the removal of the Taliban from its list of terrorist entities, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
The latest bill follows a visit to the country by Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, who on Monday met with the Taliban and reiterated his country's support for trade and economic cooperation with Afghanistan.
"We intend to develop bilateral cooperation between Russia and Afghanistan in many areas," Shoigu said, as reported by Tass. "I confirm our readiness to establish a constructive political dialogue between our countries, including for the purpose of giving impetus to the process of intra-Afghan settlement."
As well as the potential economic benefits of improved ties with Russia, as well as China, Felbab-Brown told Newsweek that the more important aspect of the Taliban's developing relationship with Moscow was "the greater legitimization of the Taliban regime."
"I think there is an intriguing possibility that Russia might be trying to include Afghanistan, in some form, in its axis of rogues," she said, referring to Moscow's existing alliances with North Korea and Iran.
"Russia [could] be prosecuting its own agenda here, in trying to build up a set of regimes and countries that are willing to forgive, or do not care, about Russia's own egregious violations of international law or the international system," she added.
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Update 11/26/24 11:46 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include comments from Brookings Senior Fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown.
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