MOSCOW – The Taliban have sent a delegation to Russia to discuss prospectsfor a withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan following the collapse oftalks with the United States this month, officials from the insurgent groupsaid.
The move, days after US President Donald Trump cancelled a planned meetingwith Taliban leaders at his Camp David retreat, came as the movement looksto bolster regional support, with visits also planned for China, Iran andCentral Asian states.
“The purpose of these visits is to inform leaders of these countries aboutthe peace talks and President Trump’s decision to call off the peaceprocess at a time when both sides had resolved all outstanding issues andwere about to sign a peace agreement,” said a senior Taliban leader inQatar.
Russia confirmed the talks, saying it had stressed the need to resumenegotiations between Washington and the Taliban.
“The Russian president’s special representative for Afghanistan … , ZamirKabulov, hosted a Taliban delegation in Moscow,” a Russian foreign ministryspokesman said, quoted by *RIA Novosti* state-funded news agency.
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“The Russian side stressed the need to relaunch negotiations between theUnited States and the Taliban movement,” the spokesman said.
“For their part, the Taliban confirmed their willingness to pursue dialoguewith Washington,” he added.
Russia, which has hosted meetings between the Taliban and Afghan politicaland civil society representatives, said earlier this week it hoped that theprocess could be put back on track and urged both sides to resume talks.-APP/AFP
