News brief

Russia thaws relations with Taliban. Russia on April 17 suspended its ban on the Taliban, which it had designated since 2003 as a terrorist organization, in a move that paves the way for Moscow to normalize ties with the leadership of Afghanistan. No country currently recognizes the Taliban government that seized power in August 2021, but Russia has been gradually building relations with the movement. President Vladimir Putin said last year the Taliban was now an ally in fighting terrorism from Islamist militant groups, after a March 2024 attack claimed by the Islamic State at a concert hall outside Moscow killed 145 people.

Last December, we reported how, after Syria’s Russian-backed Bashar al-Assad fell from power, the Kremlin had to absorb the shifting balance of power in the region.