The Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has appointed a senior religious cleric, Mawlawi Gul Hassan, as its new ambassador to the Russian Federation.

According to the Taliban embassy in Moscow, which spoke to the TASS news agency, Gul Hassan will assume his post after securing a visa and will formally take charge of the mission.

Gul Hassan previously served as a member of the Taliban’s Quetta Shura, the group’s leadership council.

Last week, Dmitry Zhirnov, Russia’s ambassador to Kabul, officially presented the agreement for Gul Hassan’s appointment to Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister.

Russia recently announced its decision to accept the Taliban’s ambassador in Moscow and to elevate diplomatic relations with the group, following the removal of the Taliban from its list of banned organisations. The Afghan embassy in Moscow had already been handed over to the Taliban in an earlier move.

The deepening of ties between Moscow and the Taliban comes as Russia has repeatedly warned against any return of NATO and the United States to Afghanistan. In a recent statement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said NATO was seeking ways to re-establish its presence in the country.

Moscow has also consistently voiced concerns about the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan, particularly the Khorasan branch of ISIS.