Russia's parliament, the Duma, has approved a bill that could lead to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan being removed from Russia's list of terrorist organizations.
The law includes legal mechanisms that enable groups to be removed from the Russian terrorist label. The upper house will consider the bill on Friday. If approved, only President Vladimir Putin's signature remains for the proposal to become law.
Moscow has cultivated contacts with the Taliban movement since it took power in Kabul and Afghanistan in 2021. Putin has previously regarded the Taliban as an "ally in the fight against terrorism" and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has urged Western countries to lift sanctions against the Taliban regime in Kabul.
The Taliban has introduced an extreme and fundamentalist form of Islam in Afghanistan after taking power since the US and its allies left the country in August 2021.
