At the moment Russia has no plans to propose itself as a mediator at negotiations between the Taliban (militants of the Taliban movement banned in Russia) and other political entities in Afghanistan. This was announced by Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, on Thursday.
‘We have long been calling on the Taliban and all other ethnic political groups in Afghanistan to negotiate the creation of an inclusive transitional government’, he said. ‘At the moment we are not planning to mediate at such talks. In my opinion, nobody is planning, either’.
According to the Minister, everybody has an interest to see that the Taliban and other ethnic and political figures of Afghanistan come to an agreement. Such signals are being sent by Western countries, China and Central Asian states as well.
As Lavrov noted, Russia’s allies from Tajikistan have a special role in the issue of resistance in Panjshir. ‘In the Panjshir Valley, the Afghan Tajiks are negotiating with the Taliban’s central government. I do hope these negotiations will eventually produce a negotiated solution, and will not be interrupted, and the threats that hostilities will resume will not be materialized’, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out.
The Taliban movement launched a large-scale operation to take control of Afghanistan after the US last spring announced the intention to withdraw its military forces from the country. On September 15, President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and left the country, while the Taliban militants entered Kabul without encountering resistance. Those opposed to the radicals’ rule organized the resistance led by Ahmad Massoud, son of the famous field commander Ahmad Shah Massoud (1953-2001). Amrullah Saleh, former Vice President, who had proclaimed himself as the acting head of the state, urged to support him.
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Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS