MOSCOW – Russia called on Wednesday for urgent talks between the Afghangovernment and the Taliban, its Foreign Ministry said in a statement onWednesday.
“We strongly recommend that negotiations start as soon as possible… toput an end to the civil war,” the statement said.
The statement said that Moscow firmly supported an early start to directtalks “in the interest of ending a fratricidal civil war” and that it was“ready to provide an appropriate platform”.
Moscow has in recent months become increasingly concerned that Afghanistanmight become a new staging ground for Central Asian extremists pushed outof Syria and Iraq after the defeat of Daesh in the region.
Moscow claims such a scenario could destabilise Russia’s Central Asianneighbours and threaten its own security.
Russia has been discussing the Afghanistan’s conflict with China andPakistan since 2016.
Last year, the Kremlin organised further talks that included the Afghangovernment as well as India and Iran. Moscow invited the US, which chosenot to participate.
Despite having fought the Taliban in the 1979-89 Afghanistan war in theSoviet era, Moscow now advocates engagement because the militant group itnot considered to have ambitions beyond Afghanistan, in contrast to Daesh.