MOSCOW – Senior Taliban officials including the group’s top politicaladvisor met with Afghan political figures in Moscow Tuesday, saying theywere committed to peace in Afghanistan — even as US-led talks appear tohave stalled.
In a message the Taliban have not altered since talks with the US startedlast autumn, Taliban co-founder and political leader Mullah Abdul GhaniBaradar said the insurgents want an end to 18 years of conflict — butwould only sign a deal after foreign forces quit Afghanistan.
The Taliban are “really committed to peace, but think the obstacle forpeace should be removed first”, Baradar said in a rare televised appearanceat the start of the two-day meeting marking 100 years of diplomatic tiesbetween Russia and Afghanistan.
“The obstacle is the occupation of Afghanistan, and that should end,”Baradar added.
Tuesday’s Moscow meeting once again cut out senior members of PresidentAshraf Ghani’s government, which the Taliban consider a US-backed puppetregime, though the head of the Kabul administration’s high peace councilhad been slated to attend.
Other Afghan politicians — including former president Hamid Karzai andcandidates challenging Ghani in a presidential election slated forSeptember — were also present.
The talks mark the second time Taliban leaders have met with Afghan figuresin Russia, following a February summit that saw the former foes prayingtogether and chatting over meals.
Former warlord Atta Muhammad Noor said the previous Moscow meeting hadyielded “quite positive results”.
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“We are for having good relations with our brothers, with the Taliban,”Noor said. “Let’s step back a little, embrace each other and createconditions for the start of peace”.
Moscow appears to be gaining influence in the ongoing process, with the USannouncing last month that Washington had reached a consensus with Chinaand Russia on the key formula for a peace deal it is negotiating inAfghanistan.
But a recent sixth round of talks between US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzadand the Taliban ended in Doha this month with no tangible progress cited bythe negotiating teams.
While the Taliban insist foreign forces must leave Afghanistan before itcan agree to peace, the US has refused to agree to a withdrawal until theTaliban put in place security guarantees, a ceasefire, and othercommitments including an “intra-Afghan” dialogue with the Kabul governmentand other Afghan representatives.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who opened Tuesday’s meeting, saidRussia and Afghanistan have “a shared aim — fighting terrorism” andreiterated that Moscow supports a complete withdrawal of foreign forces.
The Soviet Union and Afghanistan fought a war in the 1980s that resulted ina Moscow’s withdrawal after nine years of brutal conflict. -APP/AFP
