Russia took a step toward recognizing the Taliban government of Afghanistan, reports " Reuters".
Today parliament voted in favor of a law that would make it possible to remove the Taliban from Moscow's list of banned terrorist organizations.
The lower house of the parliament - the Duma, approved the bill in the first of three mandatory readings.
No country currently recognizes the Taliban government, which seized power in August 2021 after US-led forces orchestrated a chaotic withdrawal after 20 years of war. However, Russia is gradually building ties with the movement, which in July President Vladimir Putin declared an ally in the fight against terrorism.
Moscow sees a major security threat from Islamist militant groups based in a range of countries, from Afghanistan to the Middle East, where Russia lost a key ally this week with the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In March, gunmen killed 145 people at a concert hall outside Moscow in an attack claimed by Islamic State. US officials have indicated that they have intelligence that the Afghan branch of the group "Islamic State - Khorasan" is responsible.
The Taliban say they are working to destroy the presence of "Islamic State" in the country.
Western diplomats say the movement's path to greater international recognition is at a standstill until it reverses course on women's rights. The Taliban closed high schools and universities for girls and women and imposed restrictions on their movement without a male guardian. They claim to respect women's rights in accordance with their strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Russia has its own complicated and bloody history in Afghanistan. Soviet troops invaded the country in December 1979 to support the communist government, but became mired in a long war against mujahideen armed by the United States. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev withdrew his army in 1989, by which time around 15,000 Soviet soldiers had been killed.