Russia, Afghanistan to Hold High-Level Summit at Kazan Forum Next Month

A high-level summit between Russia and Afghanistan is set to take place next month under the “Afghanistan Forum” format, on the sidelines of the Kazan Forum in the Russian city of Kazan.

The meeting was announced by Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, who stated that following Russia’s removal of the governing Taliban from its list of banned organizations, all legal barriers to expanding official, political, and economic cooperation with Kabul have been eliminated.

“We are not stopping here; further steps are on the way,” Kabulov added.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk will lead the Russian delegation, while Afghanistan is expected to send a high-level government and business delegation.

Russia officially removed the Taliban, who govern Afghanistan under the name “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, from its list of banned organizations on Thursday, following a decision by the Supreme Court. Diplomatic contact between the two countries has been ongoing since 2021. In April 2022, Russia accepted Taliban-appointed diplomats to manage the Afghan Embassy in Moscow, later approving the appointment of a military attaché to the embassy in 2024.

High-level engagement has continued, with Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in October of last year, followed by Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu's visit to Kabul in November. During that trip, Shoigu held talks with Afghanistan’s top political, military, and economic leadership.

These meetings likely paved the way for the State Duma’s passage of legislation in December to formally remove the Taliban from the list of banned organizations.

With the legal hurdles now cleared, next month’s summit is expected to mark a more formal stage of bilateral relations, potentially accelerating cooperation between the two countries.

As de facto normalization progresses, Afghanistan may once again become a focal point of global geopolitical competition. On Thursday, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused Western intelligence agencies of seeking to destabilize Afghanistan by supporting anti-government elements.