"This brave decision will be an example for others." With these words, Amir Khan Muttaqi, foreign minister in Afghanistan's Taliban government, welcomed the announcement by Russia that it was officially recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry wrote on X that this would be the start of "a new phase of positive relations, mutual respect, and constructive engagement." It also posted a video of the meeting in Kabul between Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, and Muttaqi, in which Muttaqi declares: "Now that the process of recognition has started, Russia was ahead of everyone."

The radical Islamist Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 after the withdrawal of international troops. The government is not democratically elected, and enforces a severe interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. Girls and women are banned from attending school after the age of 12. Until now, no country in the world has recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.

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Afghanistan expert Conrad Schetter, the director of the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (bicc), commented that Russia may have very specific reasons for recognizing the Taliban. It may, he told DW, have considerable interests in establishing economic ties with Afghanistan, not least as a potential hub for trade with Asia. Russia has been under international sanctions since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International........

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