Attempts to artificially adjust the inter-Afghan political process to someone's geopolitical interests do not contribute to creating the basis for a settlement in this country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press conference following the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States.
"The dates of such talks have been repeatedly announced (between Kabul and the Taliban (banned in Russia) - ed. TASS), which should start in Doha. These dates were repeatedly postponed. We see the reason for this in the fact that it is impossible to artificially adjust this political process to someone's geopolitical or domestic political interests. Unfortunately, we see such attempts, they do not help to create a stable basis for the inter-Afghan political process," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
Lavrov stressed that Russia was closely monitoring the situation unfolding in Afghanistan. "Both Russia, China, and other SCO members have recently done a lot to create proper conditions for the early start of direct and inclusive intra-Afghan talks," he added. The Minister recalled that over the past couple of years, Russia has received all the participants in the Afghan political process. We convened the so-called Moscow format, which involves Afghanistan’s neighbours who are key players in the region, as well as the United States.
"The three of us – Russia, the United States and China, with the involvement of Pakistan – have worked to support the efforts of numerous countries, such as Qatar, Uzbekistan and other countries in the region to give an early start to these talks," Lavrov added.
For a decent representation
The Russian Foreign Minister also noted that Inside Afghanistan, the government wants "to somehow limit the number of social, political and ethnic groups that can take part in the talks which defeats the idea of inclusive talks". "It’s not helpful," the Foreign Minister stressed.
"I think all SCO members have a common position. We are in favour of all Afghan parties being adequately represented in the future political process, so that no one is left out on purpose (I repeat, such attempts are being made)," Lavrov stressed.
"We all confirmed the relevance of the roadmap developed as part of the SCO-Afghanistan contact group. It reflects the consensus between the SCO and Afghanistan, which has observer status in the SCO. This roadmap will be acted upon," Lavrov concluded.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the President of Afghanistan, Sediq Seddiqi, confirmed the readiness of the government delegation for dialogue with the Taliban. He noted that " technical problems before the Doha talks have been resolved."
On February 29, the United States and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in Doha. According to the agreements, the United States, its allies and the coalition intend to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan within 14 months. The Taliban, in turn, guarantee that they will not use the territory of Afghanistan for actions that pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies. Up to 5,000 supporters of the movement and up to 1,000 people held by the Taliban should be released as confidence-building measures before the start of inter-Afghan negotiations on a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS