APD | Taliban and Russia hold talks

By APD writer Easwaran

A Taliban and Russia held talks in Moscow as the insurgent group looked to bolster regional support, with visits also planned for China, Iran and Central Asian states, Russian media reported on Sunday.

The talks took place as US negotiations with the Afghan insurgents collapsed, the Russian foreign ministry said.

“The Russian president’s special representative for Afghanistan ... Zamir Kabulov, hosted a Taliban delegation in Moscow,” said a ministry spokesman, quoted by RIA Novosti state-funded news agency.

At the meeting Russia had stressed on the need to relaunch negotiations between the United States and the Taliban and Taliban expressed their willingness to pursue dialogue with Washington.

“The purpose of these visits is to inform leaders of these countries about the peace talks and president Trump’s decision to call off the peace process at a time when both sides had resolved all outstanding issues and were about to sign a peace agreement,” said a senior Taliban leader in Qatar.

The Taliban leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the purpose of the visits was not to try to revive negotiations with the US but to assess regional support for forcing it to leave Afghanistan.

Until a week ago expectation had steadily mounted of a US-Taliban deal that would see the US withdraw around 5,000 troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban offering security guarantees to keep extremist groups out.

Until a week ago expectation had steadily mounted of a US-Taliban deal that would see the US withdraw around 5,000 troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban offering security guarantees to keep extremist groups out.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)