MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Ministry Second Asian Department Director ZamirKabulov, who is the Russian president’s special representative forAfghanistan, has received a delegation of the Taliban group in Moscow, theRussian side emphasized the need to resume the US-Taliban talks, accordingto the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“Russian Presidential Special Representative for Afghanistan, Director ofthe Second Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Zamir Kabulovreceived the Taliban delegation in Moscow”, the ministry said.
“The Russian side emphasized the need to resume talks between the UnitedStates and the Taliban… The Taliban, in turn, reaffirmed its readiness tocontinue dialogue with Washington”, it said.
For the past several months, the Taliban movement and the United Stateswere negotiating a peace deal, which was expected to ensure the withdrawalof foreign troops in exchange for movement’s guarantee that it would cutties to terrorist organizations and ensure that the country would notbecome a safe haven for terrorists. The talks, however, excluded the Afghangovernment as the Taliban reportedly considers it a US puppet.
In recent weeks, the movement carried out several deadly terrorist attacks,thus undermining the peace process.
US President Donald Trump said Monday, after calling off secret Camp Davidmeetings with the Taliban and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, that the talkswith the movement were “dead”.
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Earlier in September, an explosion shook the area of Kabul where the USEmbassy, NATO local headquarters and government buildings are located. TheTaliban claimed responsibility for the blast, which killed, among othervictims, two NATO personnel — one from the United States, the other onefrom Romania.
Meanwhile, the Afghan government is ready for peace talks with the Talibanmovement, but the latter should stop carrying out attacks on the Afghanpopulation, Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan national security adviser, saidThursday. The national security adviser added that the Taliban should getrid of foreign influence and come to the negotiating table.
Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Director Zamir Kabulovsaid earlier that Moscow hopes that the US-Taliban talks were suspended andnot “dead”, adding that Moscow saw the potential agreement as “an importantstep that would pave the way to national reconciliation and consequent fullsettlement of the Afghan crisis”.
Afghanistan has long been suffering from an unstable security situation.The government has been fighting the Taliban, which has been waging a waragainst Kabul for almost two decades. -Sputnik
