Sergey Lavrov

Aug. 25 (UPI) — India will continue buying oil from “wherever they get the best deal,” Delhi’s ambassador to Russia, Vinay Kumar, told Russian state-owned news, as the Trump administration applies pressure on the South Asian nation to stop sourcing its energy from Moscow.

Speaking to TASS on Sunday, the ambassador, Vinay Kumar, said India’s objective is energy security for its 1.4 billion people, and U.S. criticism over its decision to continue to buy Russian oil “is unfair, unreasonable and unjustified.”

“Government will continue taking measures, which will protect the national interest of the country,” he said. “So, if the basis of commercial transaction trade imports are right, Indian companies will continue buying from wherever they get the best deal. So that’s what the current situation is.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed a 50% tariff on Indian imports, of which 25% is a punitive tax applied over its continued purchase of Russian oil, which is to go into effect Thursday.

Trump — who campaigned on ending the Russian war in Ukraine within 24 hours of returning to the White House — is still looking for an end to the fighting, and has turned his anger against India, which he accuses of not only buying Russian oil but then selling it for profit.

Earlier this month after Trump threatened imposing the tariffs, India accused the United States, as well as the European Union, of hypocrisy, saying they began importing from Russia “because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict.”

“India’s imports are meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer. They are a necessity compelled by global market situation,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “However, it is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion.”

It said the targeting of India was both “unjustified and unreasonable,” and that it will take “all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.”

The comments from Kumar came as U.S. Vice President JD Vance told NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday that targeting India with tariffs was part of the plan to coerce Russia to the negotiating table to end its war in Ukraine.

Calling the tariffs “aggressive economic leverage,” Vance said the secondary tariffs on India are an effort to “try and make it harder for the Russians to get rich from their oil economy.”

On Thursday, India and Russia vowed to strengthen cooperation, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stating Russian oil shipments to the Indian marker are “making wide strides” and that both countries are “interested in implementing joint energy production projects” in Russia’s Far East and Arctic shelf.

According to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, between Dec. 2, 2022, and July, India has purchased 38% of Russia’s crude exports, second only to China, which bought 47%.

President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., this past February. On Friday, ministers from the United States, Japan and South Korea met to discuss keeping the Indo-Pacific region safe and stable. File photo by Anna Rose Layden/UPI | License Photo

July 18 (UPI) — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau discussed security and commerce when he met with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Funakoshi Takehiro and South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoonjoo in Osaka, Japan, on Friday.

The goal of the meeting was to advance the countries’ trilateral partnership, which is “critical for the safety, security, and prosperity of our three countries,” State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a press release.

The three “emphasized their commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific and discussed efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region,” Bruce said.

The security of the region is always tense, thanks to North Korea and its alliances with China and Russia.

On Thursday, a United Nations report showed evidence that North Korea many times shipped arms and material to Russia, which trained North Korean troops for combat against Ukrainian forces, Seth Bailey, the U.S. State Department’s director for Korean and Mongolian Affairs, told U.N. members.

At the Osaka meeting, the three reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea and expressed serious concerns about its increasing military cooperation with Russia. They discussed the importance of strengthening deterrence and resilience against regional security threats, Bruce said.

One of those threats came last weekend, when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited North Korea and expressed support for the hermit country.

“No one is considering using force against North Korea despite the military buildup around the country by the United States, South Korea and Japan,” Lavrov said of the joint military exercise that took place in South Korea the day before.

“We respect North Korea’s aspirations and understand the reasons why it is pursuing a nuclear development,” he said.

Landau, Funakoshi and Park reiterated their commitment to strengthening supply chains and collaborating on emerging technologies to boost their economic cooperation, Bruce added.

They agreed Japanese and Korean participation in the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in June sent a strong signal about the importance of energy security underpinned by unleashing American liquified natural gas.

The U.S.-Japan bond was shaken last week, though, when President Donald Trump said he planned to impose a 25% tariff on Japan starting in August. Though hurt by the statement, Japan said it will continue to negotiate with the president.

“The real climax and critical moment are the three weeks until Aug. 1,” Japan’s Minister of Economic Revitalization Ryosei Akazawa said. “We would like to support the government’s negotiations more firmly than ever before.”

The United States has a $57 billion trade deficit with Japan with $84.95 billion exports from the United States and $141.52 billion imports in 2024, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database.

July 12 (UPI) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov traveled to North Korea on Friday to meet with his North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and others during a three-day visit.

He said Moscow respects North Korea’s efforts to develop nuclear arms by using its own scientists amid recent military exercises involving the U.S., South Korean and Japanese forces, according to CNN.

The U.S. and its South Korean and Japanese allies conducted a joint aerial training operation on the Korean Peninsula on Friday.

Lavrov warned the United States and its regional allies against targeting North Korea and Russia, Newsweek reported on Saturday.

“No one is considering using force against North Korea despite the military buildup around the country by the United States, South Korea and Japan,” Lavrov said of the joint military exercise.

“We respect North Korea’s aspirations and understand the reasons why it is pursuing a nuclear development,” Lavrov said.

He said Moscow is aware that President Donald Trump recently expressed support for resuming talks with North Korea at the highest level.

“We exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis,” Lavrov told Russian state media outlet TASS.

“Our Korean friends confirmed their firm support of all the objectives of the special military operation,” he said of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry earlier this week invitedLavrov to visit Pyongyang, which is preparing to deploy between 25,000 and 30,000 soldiers for Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.

North Korea last year deployed 11,000 soldiers to Russia to help repel a Ukrainian incursion in the Kursk region of Russia.

North Korean officials have “reaffirmed their support for all objectives” in the Russia-Ukraine war, says Russian FM.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea, during which Pyongyang reaffirmed its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine in which thousands of its soldiers have been killed.

Lavrov “was received” by Kim, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Telegram on Saturday, posting a video of the two men shaking hands and embracing in Wonsan. Russian and North Korean state media had announced the visit earlier, saying Lavrov would stay until Sunday.

It is the latest in a series of high-profile trips by top Moscow officials to North Korea as the countries deepen military and political ties with a focus on Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.

Pyongyang has become one of Moscow’s main allies during its more than three-year-long war in Ukraine, sending thousands of troops and conventional weapons to help the Kremlin remove Ukrainian forces from Kursk in Russia.

More than 6,000 North Korean soldiers have died in the Russia-Ukraine war, according to British Defence Intelligence.

North Korea has also agreed to dispatch 6,000 military engineers and builders to help reconstruction efforts there.

The South Korean intelligence service has said North Korea may be preparing to deploy additional troops in July or August.

The United States and South Korea have expressed concern that, in return, Kim may seek Russian technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by his nuclear-armed military.

Earlier on Saturday, Lavrov met with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui in Wonsan, a city on the country’s east coast, where a huge resort was opened earlier this month.

“We exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis … Our Korean friends confirmed their firm support for all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as for the actions of the Russian leadership and armed forces,” Russian news agency TASS quoted Lavrov as saying.

He also thanked the “heroic” North Korean soldiers, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

In April, the two countries officially confirmed the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia for the first time, saying these troops had helped Russia to recapture the Kursk region – a claim contested by Ukraine.

Since then, Kim has been shown in state media paying tribute in front of flag-draped coffins of North Korean soldiers.

Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu has visited Pyongyang multiple times this year.

The two heavily sanctioned nations signed a sweeping military deal last November, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea. Pyongyang has reportedly been directly arming Moscow to support its war in Ukraine.

In the meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Friday that US weapons shipments to his country had resumed, following the Pentagon’s decision to briefly halt the delivery of certain weapons to Kyiv over fears that US stockpiles were dwindling.

The US will deliver military supplies and send its envoy Keith Kellogg to Kyiv early next week, said Zelenskyy.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for a second time in two days on Friday, with the war in Ukraine the focal point of their huddle. They had met for 50 minutes on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Malaysia on Thursday.

While campaigning for re-election, US President Donald Trump had promised to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.

But more than four months later, the prospects of a ceasefire appear as remote as ever, with Russia launching a fierce bombardment of Ukraine in recent days.

After the Thursday meeting, Rubio told reporters that Trump was  “disappointed and frustrated that there’s not been more flexibility on the Russian side” to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

So has Trump’s view of the war changed – and what are his next options?

Has Trump’s position on Russia shifted?

Rubio’s comments come at a time when Trump has increasingly been publicly critical of Putin, after previously accusing Ukraine of not wanting peace.

“We get a lot of b******t thrown at us by Putin. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump said on Tuesday.

Since February, the US has held separate talks with Russia and Ukraine, and brokered direct talks between them in May in Istanbul for the first time since the early months of Russia’s full-fledged invasion in 2022.

But while Putin has offered brief pauses in fighting, he has not accepted the US proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Ukraine has accepted that proposal. Russia argues that Ukraine could use the truce to remobilise troops and rearm itself.

When asked by reporters this week whether he would act on his frustration with Putin, Trump responded: “I wouldn’t be telling you. Don’t we want to have a little surprise?”

However, experts caution against concluding that Trump was ready to act tough against Russia.

“Western media is full of commentary on what it calls Trump‘s ‘changing stance’ on Putin. But as yet, there is no reason to think that anything has changed at all,” Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera.

“There is a wave of optimism across the world that this might finally lead to a change in US policy. But, on every previous occasion, this has not happened.”

Indeed, after the Thursday meeting between Rubio and Lavrov, both sides suggested that they were willing to continue to engage diplomatically.

Arming Ukraine to fight off Russia

In early July, the Trump administration announced a decision to “pause” arms supply to Kyiv. A week later, he reversed this decision.

“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. They are getting hit very hard now,” said Trump on July 8.

On Thursday, Trump told NBC that these weapons would be sold to NATO, which will pay fully for them. NATO will then pass them on to Ukraine.

“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, a hundred percent,” Trump told NBC, adding that the US will be sending Patriot missiles to the alliance.

Trump said this deal was agreed on during the NATO summit in The Hague in June.

Trump had also frozen aid to Ukraine in February, after a falling out with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following a rancorous meeting in the White House. Trump accused Zelenskyy of talking the US into “spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won”.

Trump resumed the supplies weeks later. Between January 2022 and April 2025, the US has provided Ukraine with about $134bn in aid, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Trump’s MAGA [Make America Great Again] base has been critical of the funding that the US provides Ukraine.

Following Trump’s announcement that the US will resume sending weapons to Ukraine, several conservative Americans have responded with disappointment.

“I did not vote for this,” wrote Derrick Evans on X on July 8. Evans was one of Trump’s supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and was arrested, to be pardoned by Trump in January this year.

Conservative social media duo Keith and Kevin Hodge wrote on X on July 8: “Who in the hell is telling Trump that we need to send more weapons to Ukraine?”

Sanctioning Russia

When asked on July 8 about his interest in a Congress bill proposing additional sanctions on Russia, Trump responded, “I’m looking at it very strongly.”

Since the war in Ukraine started in 2022, the US and its allies have imposed at least 21,692 sanctions on Russian individuals, media organisations, and institutions across sectors such as the military, energy, aviation, shipbuilding and telecommunications.

However, while these sanctions have hit Russia’s economy, it has not collapsed the way some experts had predicted it would in the early months of the war.

In recent months, Zelenskyy has repeatedly requested his allies in the West to tighten sanctions on Russia, to put pressure on Putin to end the war.

Most recently, Zelenskyy posted on X on Friday following a Russian drone attack in Kharkiv: “Sanctions must be strengthened. We are expecting the adoption of a new sanctions package. Everything that will put pressure on Russia and stop it must be implemented as quickly as possible.”

A bipartisan Senate bill sponsored by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham aims to levy tariffs on countries that import oil, gas and uranium from Russia.

In 2023, crude petroleum, petroleum gas and refined petroleum constituted nearly 54 percent of total Russian exports, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).

According to the OEC, China and India buy a bulk of Russia’s oil and gas products.

In 2024, Russian oil accounted for 35 percent of India’s total crude imports and 19 percent of China’s oil imports. Turkiye also imports Russian oil, with as much as 58 percent of its refined petroleum imports sourced from Russia in 2023.

But the West has not weaned itself off Russia, either.

In 2024, European countries paid more than $700m to buy Russian uranium products, according to an analysis by Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, based on data from the European Union’s statistical office, Eurostat.

In late March this year, Trump expressed anger with Putin and threatened “secondary tariffs” on any country that buys Russian oil if a ceasefire deal is not reached, but these tariffs were not imposed.

“If a new sanctions bill does pass, and the United States does impose costs on Moscow for the first time during the current administration, this would be a radical departure from Trump’s consistent policy,” Giles said.

“It remains to be seen whether Trump will in fact allow this, or whether his deference to Putin will mean he continues to resist any possible countermeasures against Moscow.”

Walking away from the conflict

On April 18, US Secretary of State Rubio said his country might “move on” from the Russia-Ukraine war if a ceasefire deal is not brokered.

“We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,” Rubio told reporters in Paris after talks between American, Ukrainian and European officials.

“Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on. It’s not our war. We have other priorities to focus on,” Rubio continued.

On the same day, Trump echoed Rubio’s statements to reporters. However, Trump did not say that he is ready to walk away from peace negotiations.

“Well, I don’t want to say that, but we want to see it end,” Trump said.

More diplomacy

The second day of talks between Rubio and Lavrov, however, suggests that the US has not given up on diplomacy yet.

Rubio told reporters on Thursday that the US and Russia have exchanged new ideas for peace in Ukraine. “I think it’s a new and a different approach,” Rubio said, without offering any details of what the “new approach” involved.

“I wouldn’t characterise it as something that guarantees a peace, but it’s a concept that, you know, that I’ll take back to the president,” Rubio added.

Following Rubio and Lavrov’s meeting on Thursday, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release that the US and Russia had “a substantive and frank exchange of views on the settlement in Ukraine” and will continue constructive dialogue.

The statement added: “[Russia and the US] have reaffirmed mutual commitment to searching for peaceful solutions to conflict situations and resuming Russian-US economic and humanitarian cooperation.”

‘Positive trend’ in US-Russia ties remains despite Washington’s ‘zigzag’ policy, Moscow says.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio have met again at the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur, according to Russia’s state-run TASS agency, with the war in Ukraine the key focus.

The conversation followed a longer 50-minute meeting between the two top diplomats the previous day.

While no details have yet emerged from Friday’s exchange, Rubio told reporters after Thursday’s talks that the two sides had discussed a possible “new and different approach” to reviving peace efforts over Ukraine.

“I wouldn’t characterise it as something that guarantees peace,” he said, “but it’s a concept that I’ll take back to the president.”

Lavrov said on Friday that he set out the Kremlin’s position on settling the war. “We discussed Ukraine. We confirmed the position that President [Vladimir] Putin had outlined, including in his July 3 conversation with President [Donald] Trump,” Lavrov told Russian media on the sidelines of the ASEAN gathering.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the diplomats held a “substantive and frank exchange” of views on Ukraine, as well as on Iran, Syria and broader global issues.

The meeting marked a rare moment of direct engagement between Washington and Moscow as bilateral relations remain fraught. However, Russian officials downplayed suggestions that ties were deteriorating.

“I do not agree that the positive trend in relations between Moscow and Washington is fading,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the RIA news agency. “I think that the current US administration acts in a zigzag manner. We don’t dramatise over this.”

Ryabkov said a new round of US-Russia talks on unresolved bilateral issues could be held before the end of the summer.

Despite the strain, both Moscow and Washington appeared to leave the door open to further dialogue, though with caution. “We are talking, and that is a start,” Rubio said. “But much depends on what comes next.”

Top US, Chinese diplomats set to meet

Rubio, on his first official trip to Asia since assuming office, is also set to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. The in-person meeting is their first and comes as the US aims to reassert its presence in the Asia Pacific.

The US secretary of state is attending the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum, which brings together key players including Japan, China, Russia, Australia, India and the European Union.

The flurry of diplomatic meetings comes amid worsening US-China trade relations. Beijing has warned Washington against reintroducing sweeping tariffs next month, after being slapped with duties exceeding 100 percent during earlier tit-for-tat exchanges.

China has also warned of retaliation against countries that support efforts to exclude Beijing from critical global supply chains.

While Rubio’s trip signals a renewed US focus on Asia, tensions stemming from Trump’s global tariff strategy continue to cast a long shadow.

From August 1, steep import tariffs targeting eight ASEAN nations, including Malaysia, as well as close allies Japan and South Korea, are due to take effect.

Washington has said the move is part of its effort to “rebalance trade,” but critics warn the policy could undermine the very partnerships the US is seeking to strengthen.

ASEAN’s foreign ministers noted their concern on Friday over rising global tensions and underscored how critical a “predictable, transparent, inclusive, free, fair, sustainable and rules-based multilateral trading system” was in a joint communique.

“We reaffirmed our commitment to work constructively with all partners to this end,” the regional bloc’s foreign ministers said.

Rubio and Lavrov ‘confirmed their mutual desire to find peaceful solutions to conflicts’, Russian Foreign Ministry says.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have held rare face-to-face talks on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Malaysia, discussing the war in Ukraine, as well as developments in Iran and Syria.

“A substantive and frank exchange of views took place on the settlement of the situation around Ukraine, the situation around Iran and Syria, as well as a number of other international issues,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement following the meeting on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur.

Both sides reportedly expressed interest in easing tensions and resuming dialogue in areas beyond the battlefield.

Lavrov and Rubio “confirmed their mutual desire to find peaceful solutions to conflicts, restore Russian-American economic and humanitarian cooperation, and facilitate unimpeded contacts between the societies of the two countries”, the ministry added.

The Russian side described the meeting as constructive, saying dialogue between Moscow and Washington would continue.

Rubio, speaking to reporters after the 50-minute meeting, said he had delivered a clear message about the need for progress on the war in Ukraine.

“I had a frank and important conversation with Minister Lavrov,” Rubio said. “We need to see a roadmap moving forward about how this conflict can conclude.”

He said US President Donald Trump remained disappointed with what Washington, DC views as a lack of flexibility from Moscow.

Trump has been growing increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian leader was throwing a lot of “b*******” at US efforts to end the war that started with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Rubio also signalled that a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi may take place during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathering. “I think we’re working on that – maybe, maybe we’ll meet,” he said at a press conference.

The meeting between the top Russian and US diplomats comes at a time of heightened global polarisation, with ASEAN serving as one of the few venues where dialogue among rival powers still takes place.

Russia has become the first country to accept the Taliban government in Afghanistan since the group took power in 2021, building on years of quieter engagement and marking a dramatic about-turn from the deep hostilities that marked their ties during the group’s first stint in power.

Since the Taliban stormed Kabul in August four years ago, taking over from the government of then-President Ashraf Ghani, several nations – including some that have historically viewed the group as enemies – have reached out to them. Yet until Thursday, no one has formally recognised the Taliban.

So what exactly did Russia do, and will Moscow’s move pave the way for others to also start full-fledged diplomatic relations with the Taliban?

What did Russia say?

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement saying that Moscow’s recognition of the Taliban government will pave the way for bilateral cooperation with Afghanistan.

“We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields,” the statement said.

The Foreign Ministry said it would seek cooperation in energy, transport, agriculture and infrastructure.

How did the Taliban respond?

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in an X post on Thursday that Russian ambassador to Kabul Dmitry Zhirnov met Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and conveyed the Kremlin’s decision to recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

The Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Mr. Dmitry Zhirnov, called on IEA-Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi.

During the meeting, the Ambassador of Russian Federation officially conveyed his government’s decision to recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, pic.twitter.com/wCbJKpZYwm

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Afghanistan (@MoFA_Afg) July 3, 2025

Muttaqi said in a video posted on X: “We value this courageous step taken by Russia, and, God willing, it will serve as an example for others as well.”

What is the history between Russia and Afghanistan?

In 1979, troops from the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to establish a communist government. This triggered a 10-year war with the Afghan mujahideen fighters backed by US forces. About 15,000 Soviet soldiers died in this war.

In 1992, after rockets launched by rebel groups hit the Russian embassy in Kabul, Moscow closed its diplomatic mission to Afghanistan.

The Russian-backed former president, Mohammad Najibullah, who had been seeking refuge in a United Nations compound in Kabul since 1992, was killed by the Taliban in 1996, when the group first came to power.

During the late 1990s, Russia backed anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan, including the Northern Alliance led by former mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Then, on September 11, 2001, suicide attackers, affiliated with the armed group al-Qaeda, seized United States passenger planes and crashed into two skyscrapers in New York City, killing nearly 3,000 people. This triggered the so-called “war on terror” by then-US President George W Bush.

In the aftermath of the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first foreign leaders to call Bush and express his sympathy and pledge support. Putin provided the US with assistance to attack Afghanistan. Russia cooperated with the US by sharing intelligence, opening Russian airspace for US flights and collaborating with Russia’s Central Asian allies to establish bases and provide airspace access to flights from the US.

In 2003, after the Taliban had been ousted from power by the US-led coalition, Russia designated the group as a terrorist movement.

But in recent years, as Russia has increasingly grown concerned about the rise of the ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) group – a regional branch of the ISIS/ISIL armed group – it has warmed to the Taliban. The Taliban view ISIS-K as a rival and enemy.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, accompanied by the withdrawal of US forces supporting the Ghani government, Russia’s relations with the group have become more open. A Taliban delegation attended Russia’s flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg in 2022 and 2024.

With the ISIS-K’s threat growing (the group claimed a March 2024 attack at a concert hall in Moscow in which gunmen killed 149 people), Russia has grown only closer to the Taliban.

In July 2024, Russian President Putin called the Taliban “allies in the fight against terrorism”. Muttaqi met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow in October 2024.

In April 2025, Russia lifted the “terrorist” designation from the Taliban. Lavrov said at the time that “the new authorities in Kabul are a reality,” adding Moscow should adopt a “pragmatic, not ideologised policy” towards the Taliban.

How has the rest of the world engaged with the Taliban?

The international community does not officially recognise the Taliban. The United Nations refers to the administration as the “Taliban de facto authorities”.

Despite not officially recognising the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, several countries have recently engaged diplomatically with the group.

China: Even before the US pulled out of Afghanistan, Beijing was building its relations with the Taliban, hosting its leaders in 2019 for peace negotiations.

But relations have picked up further since the group returned to power, including through major investments. In 2023, a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) signed a 25-year contract with the Taliban to extract oil from the basin of the Amu Darya river, which spans Central Asian countries and Afghanistan. This marked the first major foreign investment since the Taliban’s takeover.

In 2024, Beijing recognised former Taliban spokesperson Bilal Karim as an official envoy to China during an official ceremony, though it made clear that it was not recognising the Taliban government itself.

And in May this year, China hosted the foreign ministers of Pakistan and the Taliban for a trilateral conclave.

Pakistan: Once the Taliban’s chief international supporter, Pakistan’s relations with the group have frayed significantly since 2021.

Islamabad now accuses the Taliban government of allowing armed groups sheltering on Afghan soil, in particular the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to target Pakistan. TTP, also called the Pakistani Taliban, operates on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is responsible for many of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan in recent years. Afghanistan denies Pakistan’s allegation.

In December 2024, the Pakistani military launched air strikes in Afghanistan’s Paktia province, which borders Pakistan’s tribal district of South Waziristan. While Pakistan said it had targeted sites where TTP fighters had sought refuge, the Taliban government said that 46 civilians in Afghanistan were killed in the air strikes.

This year, Pakistan also ramped up the deportation of Afghan refugees, further stressing ties. Early this year, Pakistan said it wants three million Afghans to leave the country.

Tensions over armed fighters from Afghanistan in Pakistan continue. On Friday, the Pakistani military said it killed 30 fighters who tried to cross the border from Afghanistan. The Pakistani military said all the fighters killed belonged to the TTP or its affiliates.

Still, Pakistan has tried to manage its complex relationship with Afghanistan. In April this year, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met Muttaqi and other Afghan officials in Kabul. Dar and Muttaqi spoke again in May.

India: New Delhi had shut its Kabul embassy in 1996 after the Taliban took over. India refused to recognise the group, which it viewed as a proxy of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.

New Delhi reopened its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban was removed from power in 2001. But the embassy and India’s consulates came under repeated attacks in the subsequent years from the Taliban and its allies, including the Haqqani group.

Yet since the Taliban’s return to Kabul, and amid mounting tensions between Pakistan and the group, India’s approach has changed. It reopened its embassy, shut temporarily in 2021, and sent diplomats to meet Taliban officials. Then, in January 2025, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri flew to Dubai for a meeting with Muttaqi.

And in May, India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar spoke to Muttaqi over the phone, their first publicly acknowledged conversation.

Iran: As with Russia and India, Iran viewed the Taliban with antagonism during the group’s rule in the late 1990s. In 1998, Taliban fighters killed Iranian diplomats in Mazar-i-Sharif, further damaging relations.

But it views ISIS-K as a much bigger threat. Since the Taliban’s return to Kabul, and behind closed doors, even earlier, Tehran has been engaging with the group.

On May 17, Muttaqi visited Iran to attend the Tehran Dialogue Forum. He also met with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Massoud Pezeshkian.

After Russia, will others recognise the Taliban?

While each country will likely decide when and if to formally recognise the Taliban government, many already work with the group in a capacity that amounts, almost, to recognition.

“Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries don’t necessarily have much of an option but to engage with the Taliban for both strategic and security purposes,” Kabir Taneja, a deputy director at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, told Al Jazeera.

“Most would not be doing so out of choice, but enforced realities that the Taliban will be in Afghanistan for some time to come at least.”

Taneja said that other countries which could follow suit after Russia’s recognition of the Taliban include some countries in Central Asia, as well as China.

“Russia’s recognition of the Taliban is a geopolitical play,” Taneja said.

“It solidifies Moscow’s position in Kabul, but more importantly, gives the Taliban itself a big win. For the Taliban, international recognition has been a core aim for their outreach regionally and beyond.”

May 30 (UPI) — Ukraine said it will not send a delegation for peace talks to Istanbul Monday until Russia provides details of its cease-fire proposal.

Ukraine accused Russia, which has said it will send a delegation to Istanbul for the talks, of stalling in peace negotiations.

“Russia is dragging out the war and doing everything to simply deceive countries that are still trying to influence Moscow with words, not pressure. Words with Moscow do not work. Even the so-called “memorandum” that they promised and supposedly prepared for more than a week has not yet been seen by anyone,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video posted to the presidential website.

During a joint press conference with Turkey’s foreign minister, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia must accept an unconditional cease-fire.

Ukraine has sent cease-fire proposal details to Russia.

“We are interested in seeing these meetings continue because we want the war to end this year,” Sybiha said.

The Monday Istanbul meeting will not include Zelensky or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Russian cease-fire proposal memo will be delivered at the Monday Istanbul meeting.

He said it will focus on overcoming what he termed the “root causes” of the war.

Lavrov proposed a second round of Istanbul talks for June 2. Ukraine has not yet committed to that proposed meeting.

“They are doing everything to make the meetings empty. And this is another reason to have sufficient sanctions – sufficient pressure on Russia,” Zelensky said of Russia.

The United States, France, Germany and Britain are all sending security advisors to the Monday Istanbul talks as Ukraine awaits details from Russia about its cease-fire proposal.

Ukraine’s position is that it must see details of the Russian cease-fire proposal before the next peace talks session happens.