Russia Reports Doubling of Trade with Afghanistan, Announces Planned Kabul Visit

DID Press: Russia’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, has announced that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk will lead a high-level economic delegation to Afghanistan, following a significant increase in trade between the two countries.

Kabulov announced the planned visit on Friday, October 16, but did not specify when Overchuk would travel to Kabul.

He also said bilateral trade between Russia and Afghanistan doubled in the first six months of 2026 compared with the same period last year.

Speaking at a conference on security in Central Asia and Afghanistan organized by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Kabulov said trade between the two countries was continuing to grow.

Although the overall value of bilateral trade remains relatively modest, Kabulov said the increase was particularly significant for Afghanistan. He stressed that maintaining steady growth was more important than the current trade volume.

Kabulov added that Moscow would seek to sustain the trend, describing relations between Russia and Afghanistan as increasingly constructive and based on mutual interests.

The planned visit comes as Russia seeks to expand its economic and commercial engagement with Afghanistan. The delegation’s trip could provide an opportunity to explore additional areas of cooperation between the two sides.