KABUL – Russia has agreed to postpone multilateral peace talks with theTaliban, a week after the insurgents accepted an invitation to go to Moscowfor a Sept. 4 summit, the office of the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani saidon Monday.
Russia invited 12 countries and the Taliban to Moscow for peace talks nextmonth. But though the Taliban had accepted the invitation, Kabul turned itdown on the grounds that peace talks with the insurgent group must be ledby Afghanistan.
Ghani spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “to iron out thedifferences and ensure talks with the Taliban happen in presence of theAfghan government,” a senior Ghani official told Reuters.
Lavrov assured Ghani that the summit dates “will be changed to ensureAfghanistan’s participation,” the official said.