The international meeting on Afghanistan with the participation of the Russian Federation, the PRC, the US, Pakistan and possibly Iran is being worked out and may take place in Moscow in the near future. This was stated by Zamir Kabulov, Special Representative of the Russian President for Afghanistan and Director of the Second Asian Department of the Foreign Ministry, in an interview with TASS, timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship between Russia and Afghanistan.
"The issue of holding an international meeting on the Afghan settlement in Moscow is currently being worked out by us together with other international partners," the diplomat said. - "We are talking about a new meeting of the extended "troika" with the participation of Russia, China, the US, Pakistan and, possibly, Iran. We hope that it will be convened in the near future".
Earlier, Kabulov reported that a new international meeting on the Afghan settlement could take place in late February.
Moscow could replace Doha
Kabulov did not rule out that Moscow could in the future replace Doha as the venue for one of the rounds of inter-Afghan negotiations.
"Despite the reports about meetings of negotiating teams, which have recommenced recently after a month and a half break, we have to note that the deadlock still exists at the Doha site," Kabulov said.
"We call on both sides to show flexibility and make mutual concessions in order to advance the national peace dialogue. The issue of moving the venue of the meeting of the delegations should be decided by the negotiating parties themselves. We do not exclude that in the future the idea of organizing one of the rounds at another venue, including Moscow, could become relevant," he added.
Earlier, Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mohammad Haneef Atmar said in an interview with TASS that Kabul was ready in the future to move negotiations with the Taliban (banned in Russia) from Doha to another capital, for example to Moscow.
Adjustments of the US line
Moscow does not rule out any scenarios regarding possible adjustments of Washington's line on Afghanistan under President Joe Biden's administration, Kabulov said.
"We do not rule out any scenarios in the uncertainty about possible adjustments of the US line in Afghanistan under Joe Biden's administration. However, we still expect the Doha agreement to remain in force and the commitment of both sides - the US and the Taliban - to implement it. We consider this document an important step on the way to achieving a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan. Failure to do so would be extremely undesirable and would set us back several steps on the road to sustainable national reconciliation," he said.
At the same time, Kabulov continued, Moscow considers a complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by May unlikely. "Purely technically, this is practically impossible to do. The task of the US is to choose the least of two evils and, as they say, put a comma in the right place in the well-known expression "leave impossible to stay," he pointed out.
US troops in Afghanistan
The presence of the US military contingent in Afghanistan now serves as a deterrent against the aggravation of the security situation, but in the long term a complete withdrawal of foreign troops is necessary for a sustainable settlement, Kabulov said.
Kabulov stressed that Moscow's calls for the withdrawal of US troops from the republic do not contradict Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement that at the moment the presence of Americans in Afghanistan contributes to stability in the country. "The president means that at this stage the presence of the foreign military contingent in Afghanistan is a factor restraining against the collapse of the security situation in the republic in conditions of incapability of the Afghan national security forces, whose preparation, incidentally, was the responsibility of the US and NATO countries for almost 20 years, to solve, including the tasks of combating international terrorism and drug trafficking," he explained.
At the same time, in the long term, both Afghanistan and the states of the region will not be able to eliminate these threats without achieving national reconciliation and a sustainable settlement of the situation in the country, Kabulov stressed. "One of the key conditions [for a settlement] is the complete withdrawal of foreign troops, the main irritant for the armed opposition. And once peace is achieved between the government and the Taliban (banned in the Russian Federation) movement, the formation of unified security structures in the country will, among other things, strengthen the capacity of the Afghan state to combat the threats of terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking," summarized the Director of the Second Asia Department of the Foreign Ministry.
On February 29, 2020, the previous US leadership and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in Doha. Under the agreements, the United States, its allies and the coalition undertook to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan within 14 months. The Taliban, in turn, guaranteed that they would not use Afghan territory for activities that threaten the security of the United States and its allies.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS