Kremlin wants “full partnership” with Afghan Taliban, military-technical deal signed
Russia and the Taliban government in Afghanistan have signed a military-technical cooperation agreement, Russian news agencies including Interfax have reported.
The development comes two weeks after on May 14 Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, was quoted by Interfax as saying Russia – the only country in the world to formally recognise the Taliban government – was moving to establish a "full-fledged partnership" with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and was encouraging other countries in the region to expand cooperation with Taliban-ruled Kabul.
Shoigu reportedly said that cooperation with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan was important for the security and development of the wider region and that Moscow was building a "pragmatic dialogue" with the Taliban that ranged over areas including security, trade, culture and humanitarian support.
One matter of concern for Moscow is clearly Afghanistan’s border with the Central Asian countries of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with Afghanistan-based terrorist groups such as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP, or ISIS-K) able to exploit porous parts of the frontier as part of terrorist operations that can extend to Russia. The Taliban, as an adversary of ISKP and other such terrorist groups, can help Russia address such difficulties. Beijing, meanwhile, is helping Tajikistan beef up its border with Afghanistan after five Chinese workers were killed last November by unidentified cross-border attackers.
The Taliban was outlawed by Russia as a terrorist movement in 2003, but the prohibition was removed in April 2025. The Islamist fundamentalists returned to power in Kabul in August 2021 after US and Nato troops exited Afghanistan.
Another likely ambition of Russia in working for a stabilised Afghanistan is to finally make the country a reliable interconnection between Central Asia and South Asia – the economic gains that could be achieved from having reliable railways, roads, energy pipelines and power lines running from landlocked Central Asia to Pakistan – a country with oceanic ports on the Arabian Sea that provide shipping options for much of the Global South – would be sizeable. As things stand, projects aiming to deliver all of these things are progressing, but only very slowly because of the instability that still prevails in much of Afghanistan. The Taliban, meanwhile, want to open up the Wakhan Corridor, which would give Afghanistan an operational border crossing with China, as reported by IntelliNews on May 19.
Russian media reported that the military-technical agreement was signed on May 27 by Shoigu and the Taliban government's Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob during a security forum held on the outskirts of Moscow. Yaqoob is a former military chief of the Taliban and the son of the group’s founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
The content of the agreement has not yet been disclosed by either party. That has led to speculation over whether the document represents a significant change in military cooperation or is simply a political posture.
Military-technical cooperation agreements can cover areas including arms sales, military training, technical maintenance, logistical support and technical assistance.
“In reality, we’re definitely not going to see a full-blown military alliance or a mutual defence coalition,” Ruslan Suleimanov, an analyst at the New Eurasian Strategies (NEST) Center, told The Insider.
"Russia's economy is under so much pressure right now that it can't afford to provide free military assistance to the Taliban government," Hamid Hakimi, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, was quoted as saying by Azattyk Asia.
Countries including China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have established growing diplomatic, trade and economic ties with the Taliban, though they have stopped short of officially recognising its Afghan administration.
When speaking of aiming for “full-fledged” relations, Shoigu was commenting during a meeting with his counterparts from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a 10-member grouping that includes China, India, Iran, Pakistan and all the Central Asian states except Turkmenistan.
The SCO should revive its contact group with Afghanistan, said Shoigu.
Like Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have ended their designation of the Taliban as “terrorist”.
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Russia and the Taliban government in Afghanistan have signed a military-technical cooperation agreement, Russian news agencies including Interfax have reported.
The development comes two weeks after on May 14 Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, was quoted by Interfax as saying Russia – the only country in the world to formally recognise the Taliban government – was moving to establish a "full-fledged partnership" with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and was encouraging other countries in the region to expand cooperation with Taliban-ruled Kabul.
Shoigu reportedly said that cooperation with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan was important for the security and development of the wider region and that Moscow was building a "pragmatic dialogue" with the Taliban that ranged over areas including security, trade, culture and humanitarian support.
One matter of concern for Moscow is clearly Afghanistan’s border with the Central Asian countries of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with Afghanistan-based terrorist groups such as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP, or ISIS-K) able to exploit porous parts of the frontier as part of terrorist operations that can extend to Russia. The Taliban, as an adversary of ISKP and other such terrorist groups, can help Russia address such difficulties. Beijing, meanwhile, is helping Tajikistan beef up its border with Afghanistan after five Chinese workers were killed last November by unidentified cross-border attackers.
The Taliban was outlawed by Russia as a terrorist movement in 2003, but the prohibition was removed in April 2025. The Islamist fundamentalists returned to power in Kabul in August 2021 after US and Nato troops exited Afghanistan.
Another likely ambition of Russia in working for a stabilised Afghanistan is to finally make the country a reliable interconnection between Central Asia and South Asia – the economic gains that could be achieved from having reliable railways, roads, energy pipelines and power lines running from landlocked Central Asia to Pakistan – a country with oceanic ports on the Arabian Sea that provide shipping options for much of the Global South – would be sizeable. As things stand, projects aiming to deliver all of these things are progressing, but only very slowly because of the instability that still prevails in much of Afghanistan. The Taliban, meanwhile, want to open up the Wakhan Corridor, which would give Afghanistan an operational border crossing with China, as reported by IntelliNews on May 19.
Russian media reported that the military-technical agreement was signed on May 27 by Shoigu and the Taliban government's Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob during a security forum held on the outskirts of Moscow. Yaqoob is a former military chief of the Taliban and the son of the group’s founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
The content of the agreement has not yet been disclosed by either party. That has led to speculation over whether the document represents a significant change in military cooperation or is simply a political posture.
Military-technical cooperation agreements can cover areas including arms sales, military training, technical maintenance, logistical support and technical assistance.
“In reality, we’re definitely not going to see a full-blown military alliance or a mutual defence coalition,” Ruslan Suleimanov, an analyst at the New Eurasian Strategies (NEST) Center, told The Insider.
"Russia's economy is under so much pressure right now that it can't afford to provide free military assistance to the Taliban government," Hamid Hakimi, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, was quoted as saying by Azattyk Asia.
Countries including China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have established growing diplomatic, trade and economic ties with the Taliban, though they have stopped short of officially recognising its Afghan administration.
When speaking of aiming for “full-fledged” relations, Shoigu was commenting during a meeting with his counterparts from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a 10-member grouping that includes China, India, Iran, Pakistan and all the Central Asian states except Turkmenistan.
The SCO should revive its contact group with Afghanistan, said Shoigu.
Like Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have ended their designation of the Taliban as “terrorist”.
Russia Signs Military Cooperation Deal With Afghanistan’s Taliban Government
- Russia and the Taliban signed a military cooperation agreement, though neither side has disclosed the details or scope of the pact.
- Experts say any cooperation is likely to focus on training, maintenance, intelligence coordination, and security issues rather than large-scale weapons transfers.
- Both sides share concerns about Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), which has emerged as a major security threat across Afghanistan and the broader region.
Russia and Afghanistan’s Taliban government have signed a military agreement, in a move that signals deepening cooperation between the sides, experts said.
The deal was signed on May 27 by Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, and the Taliban’s defense minister, Mohammad Yaqub, on the sidelines of a security forum outside of Moscow, Russian media reported.
Neither side has released the text of the military cooperation agreement or offered details about its scope, making it difficult to gauge whether the deal represents a substantive shift in military cooperation or a symbolic political gesture, experts said.
Military-technical cooperation agreements can cover a wide range of activities, including arms sales, training, maintenance, logistics support, or technical assistance.
Experts said Russia’s ability and willingness to deepen defense cooperation with the Taliban is constrained by Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the crippling impact of Western sanctions on the Kremlin’s coffers.
“Russia is too economically stretched to provide free military aid to the Taliban government,” said Hameed Hakimi, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.
“Meanwhile, the Taliban government does not have deep coffers to purchase such a quantity of military equipment, which would make it a consequential military trading partner in Moscow's eyes,” added Hakimi, who is also a senior research associate at ODI Global, a London-based think tank.
Any cooperation is more likely to focus on maintenance, coordination, or training rather than major arms deliveries, experts said.
Russian analyst Ruslan Suleymanov told The Insider, a Russia-focused, independent media outlet based in Latvia, that the deal is a political signal rather than a sign of imminent military support.
Expanding Ties
Russia is the only country that has formally recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government. It did so in 2025, four years after the group returned to power following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan in 2021.
Several countries -- including China, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan -- maintain diplomatic, trade, and economic ties with the Taliban without officially recognizing its government.
Russia has hosted Taliban delegations in recent years and positioned itself as a key interlocutor on Afghan security issues.
Moscow is particularly concerned about the threat posed to Russia and Central Asia, which it considers its strategic backyard, by militant groups such as Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K).
The Afghanistan-based extremist group claimed responsibility for a March 2024 assault on a packed concert venue outside Moscow that killed nearly 150 people, the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades.
Aleksandr Bortnikov, head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), warned on May 26 that IS-K remains one of the most active and dangerous terrorist organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Kabul's Search For Partners
For the Afghan Taliban, closer ties with Russia offer diplomatic and practical benefits at a time when the country remains largely isolated internationally.
Engagement with Moscow allows Kabul to signal that it is not entirely cut off from the international system and can secure partnerships with major powers outside the West.
“The symbolism of the agreement with Russia will allow the Taliban to claim external legitimacy and create a PR moment to influence public opinion domestically,” Hakimi told RFE/RL.
Ruling with an iron first, the Taliban is widely despised by Afghans. While it has brought relative stability to the war-torn country, the militant Islamist group has deprived many people of their basic rights, particularly women, and been accused of committing gross human rights abuses.
From Moscow’s perspective, the agreement fits into a broader effort to reassert influence in the region following the US-led military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Moscow has sought to frame itself as a counterweight to Western policies. During the security forum on May 27, Shoigu reiterated Moscow’s calls on Western countries to unfreeze Afghan government assets held in foreign banks and accept what he described as responsibility for the consequences of their two-decade military presence in the country.
Earlier, on May 14, during a regional security meeting in Kyrgyzstan, Shoigu said Russia had built a “pragmatic dialogue” with the Taliban and was developing what he called a “full-fledged partnership” with Kabul, citing shared security concerns and regional stability.
By RFE/RL
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