The Russian delegation, at the request of Kabul, has opted out of participating in an event featuring so-called Afghan activists during the meeting of special representatives on Afghanistan, under the auspices of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in Doha. The decision was announced by the Russian Embassy in Afghanistan.
"In response to the Afghan authorities' request, the Russian side has chosen not to attend the event involving so-called Afghan civil activists. The selection process for these activists was conducted non-transparently, without the involvement of Kabul," stated the Russian diplomatic mission in a statement published on its Telegram channel.
The embassy clarified that representatives of the radical Taliban, banned in Russia, were exclusively invited to a "secondary segment of events" within the Doha meeting of special representatives on Afghanistan under Guterres's auspices. However, the organizers disregarded Kabul's request for participation as a representative of all of Afghanistan, a condition set for the Taliban's presence. Consequently, the delegation led by Amir Khan Muttaqi, the foreign minister in the interim Afghan government, canceled its trip to Doha. The Russian Embassy deemed Kabul's stance "justified."
Earlier, the Taliban had outlined two conditions for their participation in the Doha meeting. They insisted that their delegation be the sole representative from Afghanistan and demanded direct talks with Guterres.
On February 9, Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Director of the Foreign Ministry's Second Asia Department, informed TASS that a new international meeting of special representatives on Afghanistan, under the UN secretary-general's auspices, would convene in Doha on February 18-19. Kabulov also confirmed his attendance as Russia's representative at the meeting.
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Based on materials from TASS