Russia expects the confrontation between the Taliban (banned in Russia) and Afghan Tajiks in Panjshir to give way to negotiations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday, speaking to participants in the New Knowledge educational marathon.
"As for opportunities to solve the problem of Afghanistan peacefully, I think there are. I hope that now the last outbursts of confrontation in the north of Afghanistan in Panjshir valley will give way to negotiations," he said.
As the minister stated, the talks started, but were again interrupted and the fighting resumed. "I hope that the negotiations between Taliban and Tajiks of Afghanistan will start and it is inevitable that the agreement on a political settlement should include a compromise between Pashtuns who are mainly Taliban and other Pashtuns should also take part, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras," he pointed out.
Lavrov emphasized that Moscow strongly promotes the dialogue of ethnic and confessional groups of Afghanistan. He reminded that Russia was in contact with all Afghan communities, including the Taliban, without exception.
"By the way, when they say that one can't communicate with them, this is a tricky thing. There is a UN Security Council decision which does not declare the whole Taliban movement terrorist but imposes sanctions on specific Taliban leaders for specific offenses, including terrorist activities, involvement in drug trafficking and so on," said the Russian foreign minister.
The Taliban began a large-scale operation to establish control over Afghanistan after the United States announced in spring that it would withdraw its military forces from there. On August 15, President Ashraf Ghani resigned and left the country, and the Taliban fighters entered Kabul without a fight. Those who opposed the radicals organized a resistance in Panjshir led by Ahmad Masoud, son of field commander Ahmad Shah Masoud. Former Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who had declared himself acting head of state, called on him to support him. Ahmad Masoud, in a letter earlier published in The Washington Post, called on the West to help the resistance forces with arms and ammunition.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS