page_title: Afghanistan–Russia relations
section_title: The USSR
hierarchical_section_title: Afghanistan–Russia relations / Historical relations / The USSR
caption_attribution_description: English: “Afghan ambassador grants an Order of Glory of the Republic of Afghanistan to A. Sekretaryov's family”. Afghan ambassador granting an Order of Glory of the Republic of Afghanistan to the family of Izvestia news paper correspondent Alexander Sekretaryov, who died on duty in Afghanistan. Centre - ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in the USSR Sayid Mahammad Gulyabzoi. Русский: «Вручение ордена Славы Республики Афганистан семье А. Ф. Секретарева». Вручение ордена Славы Республики Афганистан семье фотокорреспондента газеты "Известия" Александра Фроловича Секретарева, погибшего в Афганистане при исполнении служебного долга. В центре - Чрезвычайный и Полномочный посол Демократической Республики Афганистан СССР Саид Махаммад Гулябзой. Россия, Москва
context_page_description: Afghanistan–Russia relations are the relations between the nations of Afghanistan and Russia. These relations are independent of the "Great Game" which consists of Russian–British confrontations over Afghanistan since 1840. On 28 February 1921, Afghanistan and Soviet Russia signed a Friendship Treaty. The Soviet Union was the first country to recognize Afghanistan's independence following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919.
  Following the Second World War, Afghanistan and the Soviet Union formed a friendly relationship, and the latter provided much aid and development to Afghanistan. The two countries signed a friendship treaty in 1978, and the following year Soviet Russia intervened in Afghanistan with Operation Storm-333. This action precipitated a negative reaction in most of the Muslim world deeming it as an invasion, and contributing to a decline in Afghanistan's prosperity and a strengthening of radical elements within the country. The Russian-backed Afghan government collapsed in 1992. However, Russo-Afghan relations have improved somewhat in the years following the conflict.
context_section_description: In 1924 and 1925, The Soviet Union and Afghanistan engaged in a conflict over the island of Urtatagai. The conflict ended with a peace treaty wherein the Soviet Union recognized the island as part of Afghanistan, and Afghanistan was forced to restrain Basmachi border raids. In 1929, during the Afghan Civil War (1928–1929), the Saqqawists revoked the treaty upon coming to power. Subsequent Basmachi incursions from northern Afghanistan prompted the beginning of the Red army intervention in Afghanistan, which succeeded at reducing Basmachi offensive capabilities. A small Basmachi resurgence in late 1929 and early 1930 prompted a second intervention. 
  The Cold War lasted from 1945 to 1992. The conflict shaped Russian foreign policy towards developing countries, emphasizing the creation of puppet, proxy, and buffer states.
  Afghanistan's foreign policy after 1919 was one of non-alignment. Despite this policy, the Afghanistan government still retained good terms with both the United States and the Soviet Union. The countries' treaty of neutrality and nonaggression was first signed in 1928. In a confidential report in 1944 to the India Office, It was reported that fear of Russia was prevalent within the Afghan air force, and a question that was frequently put to British Instructors was "when will the British and Americans realise that Russia is a danger to all small countries in Europe and Asia and begin to take action to counter Russian aims in the Balkans, the Mediteranean and the Near East?". Upon being elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Daoud Khan pursued close relations with the Soviet Union. The Soviets began a major economic assistance program in Afghanistan in the 1950s. Afghanistan's strained relations with Pakistan over the Pashtunistan issue, as well as the 1954 military pact between Pakistan and the United States, was another large reason of the closer relations (but whilst maintaining non-alignment).
  Between 1954 and 1978, Afghanistan received more than $1 billion in Soviet aid, including substantial military assistance. From 1956, a major arms agreement with the USSR allowed Afghanistan to modernize their army for the first time since World War II. The Afghan king along with the Foreign Minister paid a visit to the Soviet Union in July 1957 and again from 17 August to 4 September 1957. Along with increasing military aid, it was agreed for the Soviets to conduct petroleum exploration in northern Afghanistan. An additional deal of economic and technical cooperation between the two countries was signed by Daoud Khan and Nikita Khrushchev in May 1959. The USSR also saw its neighbor as important to its national security. In 1973, the two countries announced a $200 million assistance agreement on gas and oil development, trade, transport, irrigation, and factory construction.
  Despite his earlier close cooperation with the USSR, Daoud Khan led Afghanistan back towards independence and non-alignment as President of the new republic. Additionally, he sent troops as well as diplomats to neighbouring countries to build up foreign relations and decrease Afghanistan's dependence on the Soviet Union, seeking instead closer relations to the west and the United States. On a state visit to the USSR in April 1977, Daoud Khan told Leonid Brezhnev that Afghanistan shall remain free and that the Soviet Union will not be able to dictate how Afghanistan would govern. Relations between the two countries turned more positive again after the communist party took power in Afghanistan. On 5 December 1978, the two countries signed a 20-year friendship treaty. However relations turned sour again after the killing of Nur Muhammad Taraki in 1979.
  There were four main motivations for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. First, the Soviet belief that Afghanistan had strategic importance for the security of their borders. This belief was consistent with longstanding Russian foreign policy that emphasized security through expansionism and the establishment of physical barriers in the form of buffer states. The second reason for invasion was the 
caption: A group of Afghan and Soviet people in Moscow, c. 1991.
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