Acting Afghan Minister of Trade and Industry Haji Nooruddin Azizi told Reuters that the Taliban signed a temporary agreement with Russia to import gasoline, diesel, gas and wheat.
Azizi added that his ministry is working to diversify its trading partners, and that Russia has offered the Taliban administration a discount on average global commodity prices.
This step is the first major international economic deal concluded by the Taliban since its return to power more than a year ago, and could help - according to observers - in alleviating the movement's isolation that has effectively alienated it from the global banking system.
Azizi said that the deal includes the supply to Russia of about one million tons of gasoline, one million tons of diesel, 500,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas and two million tons of wheat annually.
The Russian energy and agriculture ministries did not respond to requests for comment on the deal, and the office of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak in charge of oil and gas did not immediately respond.
Azizi said international data showed that most Afghans live below the poverty line, and his office is working to support trade and the economy through international outreach.
He added, "Afghans are in dire need, and whatever we do, we do it out of the national interest and the people's interest."
He pointed out that Afghanistan also received some gas and oil from Iran and Turkmenistan, and it has strong commercial relations with Pakistan, but it also wants to diversify, as he put it.