Russia received the credentials of a new Afghan ambassador as part of its continuing efforts to improve diplomatic ties with the Taliban government, which took power after the withdrawal of United States forces four years ago.

"We are convinced that the act of official recognition by the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will contribute to the strengthening of productive bilateral cooperation between our nations in different areas," said the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release issued on Thursday.

With this step, Russia became the first country in the world to formally recognise the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan. "This courageous move will be a model for others," said Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in a video shared on X showing his meeting on Thursday with Russian ambassador to Kabul Dmitry Zhirnov.

"Now that the recognition process has begun, Russia was way ahead of everybody." This move is expected to draw global attention, particularly from the United States, which has frozen assets belonging to Afghanistan’s central bank and placed sanctions on some senior Taliban leaders, actions that have largely isolated the country’s financial system from international banking networks.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 after US troops withdrew and the internationally recognised government collapsed.

Moscow, which described the US exit as a "failure", has since moved towards normalising its relationship with the Taliban authorities, seeing them as both a potential economic partner and a force in counterterrorism.

A Taliban delegation participated in Russia’s main economic forum in Saint Petersburg in both 2022 and 2024, and the group’s senior diplomat also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow in October last year.

In July 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to the Taliban as "allies in the fight against terrorism", particularly against the Islamic State Khorasan Province or ISKP, a group that has carried out deadly attacks in both Afghanistan and Russia.

In April, the Supreme Court of Russia removed the “terrorist” designation from the Taliban. Lavrov said that month that "the new authorities in Kabul are a reality," and he urged Russia to follow "a pragmatic, not ideologised policy" in its approach to the Taliban.

Russia’s position on the Taliban has shifted significantly over the past twenty years. The Taliban was formed in 1994 during the Afghan Civil War and was largely made up of former Mujahideen fighters who had been supported by the United States during their battle against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

The Soviet-Afghan War ended with a major defeat for Moscow and is believed to have played a role in the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.

In 2003, Russia added the Taliban to its list of "terrorist" organisations because of the group’s support for separatist movements in the North Caucasus.

But since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Russia and other neighbouring countries have started to shift their strategies as they compete for influence in the region.

Russia was the first country to open a business representative office in Kabul after the Taliban took control and has announced plans to use Afghanistan as a route to transport gas to Southeast Asia.

Despite these developments, no global body has officially recognised the Taliban government, and the United Nations still refers to the administration as the "Taliban de facto authorities."