Russia officially recognized the interim government of Afghanistan

The Special Representative of the Russian President for Afghanistan, Kablov, confirmed that Russia has officially recognized the interim government of Afghanistan. Russia was the first country to officially recognize the interim government of Afghanistan.

Xinhua News Agency reported that Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ivan Kablov, made the above remarks in response to a question from RIA Novosti on Thursday (July 3). Earlier that day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Afghan interim government announced that Russia had informed the Afghan side of this decision.

Since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the interim government of Afghanistan has been seeking formal recognition from the international community.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Interim Government of Afghanistan issued a statement on Thursday saying that Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Zhirnov met with Acting Foreign Minister of the Interim Government of Afghanistan, Muttaki, on the same day and officially informed Russia of its decision to recognize the legitimacy of the interim government of Afghanistan.

The statement quoted Zhirnov as saying that this decision by the Russian side will further deepen Russia-Afghanistan relations and expand cooperation in various fields between the two sides.

Mottaki welcomed the Russian side's decision. He said that this marked a new stage of "positive, mutually respectful and constructive engagement" in the relations between the two countries. This "pragmatic and princip-based" decision by the Russian side will become an important milestone in bilateral relations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ludenko accepted a copy of the credentials submitted by the new Afghan ambassador to Russia, Hassan. In April this year, Russia decided to upgrade the diplomatic representative office of Afghanistan in Russia to the ambassadorial level.