Russia and the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have signed a navy cooperation settlement, it has been reported. The deal – finalised during an worldwide security discussion board in Moscow – follows a assembly between Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Afghan Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob, who is the Taliban’s former navy chief and the son of its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
Russian information businesses have described the deal as a navy cooperation settlement, but its particular phrases have not been made public. However, bilateral frameworks of this nature typically contain the exchange of weapons, manufacturing licenses and defence technology, alongside joint analysis tasks. The transfer comes just one 12 months after the Kremlin eliminated the Taliban from a record of banned terrorist teams. “Interaction with Russia is important for us,” Yaqoub said. “Afghanistan and Russia have long-standing and historic relations, and we want to move forward in this direction.”
Following its 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, the Soviet Union spent a decade locked in a brutal battle with the mujahideen – Islamic guerrilla fighters who resisted the occupation and later laid the groundwork for the Taliban. Even after Soviet forces withdrew, relations between Moscow and Kabul remained severely strained.
The Taliban took back control in Afghanistan in 2021 after overthrowing the US-backed authorities and re-imposing an austere model of Islamic law. In 2024, Putin called the Taliban “allies in the fight against terrorism”.
A year later, Russia removed the Taliban from its list of banned terrorist groups, a designation that had been in place since 2003. Then, in July of the same year, it became the first and only country to formally recognise the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.
Earlier this month, the European Commission confirmed that it had invited Taliban officials to Brussels; however, a spokesperson stated that the invitation “does not by any means constitute a recognition”.
Some analysts have downplayed the immediate impact of the agreement, describing it as a symbolic effort by Moscow to formalise its relationship with Kabul on paper, rather than the start of a deep partnership.
“In reality, we’re definitely not going to see a full-blown military alliance or a mutual defense coalition,” Ruslan Suleimanov, an analyst at the New Eurasian Strategies (NEST) Center, instructed the impartial outlet The Insider.
WW3 fears have ramped up after a Russian Geran-2 (Shahed-type) kamikaze drone crossed into Romanian airspace and crashed into a 10-story residential house building in the southeastern metropolis of Galați in the early hours of May 29.
This marked a main escalation, as it was the first time since the begin of the conflict in Ukraine that a Russian drone hit a densely populated city space in Romania and brought about civilian casualties.
Source hyperlink
