Russia signs chilling partnership with the Taliban as WW3 fears soar | World | News

Russia and the Taliban government in Afghanistan have signed a military cooperation agreement, it has been reported. The deal – finalised during an international security forum in Moscow – follows a meeting between Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Afghan Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob, who is the Taliban’s former military chief and the son of its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Russian news agencies have described the deal as a military cooperation agreement, but its specific terms have not been made public. However, bilateral frameworks of this nature generally involve the exchange of weapons, manufacturing licenses and defence technology, alongside joint research projects. The move comes just one year after the Kremlin removed the Taliban from a list of banned terrorist groups. “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 conflict 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 government and re-imposing an austere version 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, told the independent 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 apartment building in the southeastern city of Galați in the early hours of May 29.

This marked a major escalation, as it was the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine that a Russian drone hit a densely populated urban area in Romania and caused civilian casualties.