Putin Embraces Taliban Rule in Shocking Shift

In a stunning move that underscores collapsing Western influence and the dangers of global power realignment, Vladimir Putin’s Russia on Thursday became the first nation to formally recognize the Taliban’s radical Islamist regime as the legitimate government of Afghanistan—just three years after American troops were hastily withdrawn under the Biden administration’s disastrous Kabul exit. With Moscow rolling out the red carpet for Taliban diplomats and plotting economic partnerships in energy, agriculture, and infrastructure, Russia is openly embracing a group that just years ago was rightly considered a terrorist organization. Even more shocking, the Russian Supreme Court recently removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist groups, paving the way for “full-fledged relations” in the Kremlin’s words. As the White House stays silent, our global adversaries exploit the power vacuum left by failed liberal foreign policy—cementing ties with extremists and diminishing the legacy of American sacrifices in the War on Terror.