Taliban, Russia are cozying up to each other — why?

Key points

• Russia and the Afghan Taliban have signed a deal on repairing Soviet-era and Russian-made weapons, a seemingly small move in a larger game involving the US, Pakistan, and Moscow's efforts to curb Western influence.
• The acting defense minister in the Taliban regime, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, stepped off a flight in Kabul last week to deliver a warning to Pakistan.
• Islamabad, he said, would "soon no longer dare" to attack Afghan territory due to the military-technical cooperation agreement he had just signed in Moscow.
• He also said the implementation of the agreement with Russia would begin shortly.
• At the same time, Yaqoob tried to downplay any international concerns about military cooperation between the regime and Moscow.