MOSCOW: Russia has offered to host peace talks between Afghan Taliban andAfghanistan government, a statement from its Foreign Ministry said onWednesday

“We strongly recommend that negotiations start as soon as possible… toput an end to the civil war,” the ministry said.

The statement added, Moscow was ready to provide a platform for directtalks between Afghanistan government and the Taliban movement.

The statement came ahead of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to NewYork on January 18-19. He will take part in the UN Security Councilmeetings on non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons and the situationin Afghanistan, TASS reported.

“The experience of international efforts on stabilization in Afghanistanshows the ineffectiveness of attempts to solve problems by force,” theministry said.