Inclusion would solve the ‘problem of the unification of the Taliban in the peaceful political life of Afghanistan’, a Moscow official says.
Russia on Friday said the Taliban should be included in any Afghan interim administration, ahead of a conference in Moscow aimed at supporting peace talks between the group and government. Afghanistan.
Moscow is scheduled to hold a conference on Afghanistan on March 18 and has invited a number of regional players, including Taliban representatives.
The meeting is seen as the Kremlin’s latest attempt to consolidate its position as a broker in the conflict, decades after the end of Afghanistan’s Soviet career.
It comes at a critical time for the peace process before the May 1 deadline for foreign troops to withdraw from Afghanistan.
The United States has drawn up a peace plan calling for an interim administration to replace the current Afghan government until a new constitution is agreed and elections are held, but Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has refused to step down. the other side for a transitional government.
“An interim coalition government should be decided by the Africans themselves during national reconciliation talks,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters at her weekly meeting .
“At the same time, we noted that the creation of an interim, inclusive administration would be a logical solution to the problem of uniting the Taliban in the peaceful political life of Afghanistan.”
A U.S.-drafted U.S. peace plan suggests that the National Assembly, under Afghanistan’s interim administration, could be extended to include members of the Taliban or postponed until after the election. .
Moscow has said its conference next week is to support peace talks to be held in Doha, which has been struggling with any outcome.
A source close to the Taliban told Reuters news agency, on condition of anonymity, that a team of four or five of the Taliban’s political office in Doha would be present at the Moscow conference.
Earlier on Friday, Turkey said it would also hold Afghan peace talks in April in Istanbul.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “The Taliban and the delegation, meaning the government side, have asked us to hold such a meeting before.
“We will do this [meeting] in coordination with fraternal Qatar, ”he said, referring to a separate round of talks held in Doha.
The U.S. scheduled withdrawal is compounded by a recent surge in fighting and concerns that a swift departure will only resolve further anomalies.
Cavusoglu said he did not expect the Istanbul meeting to result in an immediate breach.
“Our goal is to pursue talks between the Taliban and the outcome-oriented government,” state news agency Anadolu said.
“Burning may not be a relief but it is an ongoing process,” he said.
“We are sending a message to the Taliban. We are telling them to end the attacks. We tell them that there can be no real conversations for as long as the attacks continue. “