*KABUL – The Afghan Taliban said that they are ready for the talks but onlywith Washington.*

This came after delegations of the Taliban, Afghan government, US andPakistan, among other countries, met in Moscow on Friday for the secondround of talks on Afghanistan.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, who is leading the Afghan Talibandelegation, said that the Taliban’s main aim is to put an end to the17-year-long US-led invasion. The Taliban “does not recognise the currentgovernment as legal and therefore we won’t hold talks with them,” he said.

“Considering our main demand is the withdrawal of foreign forces, we willdiscuss a peaceful resolution with the Americans,” he said. “We will nottolerate a single US soldier in Afghanistan,” Stanikzai added.

He claimed that recently, the US and Taliban engaged in direct talks andhailed it as a positive sign. “The Americans have realized that we shouldsolve the Afghan problems through negotiations,” he said. However,Stanikzai admitted that the talks are at the initial stages and so faramounted to “confidence-building measures.”

Russia hailed the meeting as an opportunity to “open a new page” inAfghanistan’s history.

However, the meetings ended without the sides agreeing on a path to directdialogue, the delegations from the Taliban and Kabul’s High Peace Councilsaid.

“This conference was not about direct talks,” Stanikzai told journalists intranslated comments quoted by Interfax news agency. Afghan delegationmember Hajji Din Mohammad told journalists that Russia invited them to anew meeting but that “agreement was not reached on holding direct talks”with the Taliban, RIA Novosti news agency reported. – APP / AFP