Russia just embraced the Taliban — the world barely blinked

Russia’s quiet decision last Thursday to remove the Taliban from its official list of terrorist organizations should have provoked international uproar. Instead, it was met with stunning silence. No emergency Security Council meetings, no public condemnations from Western capitals, no coordinated outcry from human rights organizations. Just a procedural court ruling in Moscow — and a deafening global shrug.

The ruling by the Russian Supreme Court marked the end of a two-decade designation of the Taliban as a terrorist entity. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the decision is intended to pave the way for a “full-fledged partnership” with the group now governing Afghanistan. Moscow’s justification? Cooperation against drug trafficking and terrorism, and the building of economic ties. That’s the story, on the surface. But the implications of this shift run much deeper, and they are far more dangerous than they first appear.

This is not merely a diplomatic maneuver or a gesture of realpolitik. It is a statement — and a provocation. Russia, emboldened by its growing detachment from Western norms and its deepening strategic pivot to the East, has chosen to embrace one of the most repressive, ideologically extremist regimes in the modern world. And it did so with barely a whisper of protest from the same international community that once rallied troops, spent trillions, and buried thousands in an effort to dislodge the Taliban from power.

There is no serious debate to be had about the Taliban’s character. Since taking power in August 2021, the group has presided over the systematic dismantling of women’s rights, the persecution of minorities, the banning of girls from education, and the reimposition of a theocratic, medieval system of governance. In its most recent assessment, Human Rights Watch described Afghanistan as the worst place in the world for women and girls, citing the Taliban’s total exclusion of women from public life and the implementation of policies amounting to gender apartheid.

These are not allegations; they are facts. They are documented and broadcast, sometimes even by the regime itself. The Taliban has not changed — it has simply learned to adjust its rhetoric for international audiences while doubling down on repression at home. And yet, Russia has opted to bring the group in from the cold, legitimizing its rule under the guise of regional stability and anti-drug cooperation.

It is not difficult to see what Moscow hopes to gain. Since the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, a geopolitical vacuum has emerged. With NATO absent, Russia sees an opportunity to assert influence over a country that borders Central Asia, a region already within Moscow’s historical and strategic orbit. More than that, Afghanistan is rich in rare earth minerals and lies at the crossroads of potential trade corridors stretching from China to the Middle East. With Western sanctions tightening around its economy, Russia is eager for any lifeline, any new market, and any leverage point that might frustrate or replace Western influence.

The Taliban, too, gains from this new arrangement. Starved of international recognition and desperate for external investment, the regime views Moscow’s gesture as the first real sign of global legitimacy. Even as UN sanctions remain in force — including travel bans, asset freezes, and an arms embargo reaffirmed as recently as 2024 — the Taliban now finds itself engaged in state-to-state diplomacy with one of the world’s permanent Security Council members. That matters, not just symbolically but materially. It opens doors, loosens restrictions, and encourages other governments to consider similar moves.

Already, China has hosted Taliban delegations. Iran has maintained quiet relations. Turkey has made overtures. What Russia has done is accelerate a dangerous trend: the slow normalization of a regime that seized power through violence, has refused to reform, and continues to harbor extremist elements within its borders. In doing so, the Kremlin is chipping away at what little consensus remains about who gets to be part of the international community and under what conditions.

The West, for its part, seems paralyzed — unsure whether to reengage or disengage, criticize or ignore, confront or contain. But silence is a form of acquiescence. And in this case, it is a perilous one.

What Moscow has done is not just a foreign policy gamble; it is a moral test. It signals to authoritarian regimes around the world that terrorist designations are flexible, that international condemnation is negotiable, and that legitimacy can be bought through strategic partnerships and transactional diplomacy. The message is clear: if you can make yourself useful enough to the right patrons, your past sins will be overlooked, if not forgotten entirely.

This is a profound erosion of the post-9/11 global framework that, however imperfectly, sought to draw a line between those who upheld international norms and those who tore them down. By welcoming the Taliban back into diplomatic life, Russia is not just rewriting that framework — it is torching it.

And the timing is no accident. At a moment when Western democracies are consumed by internal debates, geopolitical fatigue, and the rise of isolationist sentiment, Moscow has sensed an opportunity to remake the global order in its own image. One in which values are irrelevant, alliances are fluid, and power is the only currency that matters.

But the costs will not be confined to Afghanistan. They will reverberate across the world — in the legitimization of extremist ideologies, the resurgence of militant groups, and the further erosion of international law. When a state like Russia declares the Taliban no longer a terrorist group, it provides cover not just for the Taliban, but for every jihadist movement seeking political rehabilitation.

In the end, this is not just a Russian problem or an Afghan problem. It is a global problem. And unless the world finds the clarity and courage to call it what it is — a dangerous, reckless, and morally bankrupt move — then the normalization of terror will not be the exception. It will become the new normal.