Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, has said that he hopes Turkey will attend the next meeting in Moscow.
The first round of the Moscow talks was held on February 5 and 6 where delegates from mainstream political parties in Afghanistan and the Taliban had attended. The Afghan government, however, was not part of the meeting. The talks in Moscow faced mixed reaction by analysts and officials.
“We will be pleased if [Turkey] attends the next meeting in Moscow” on Afghan peace talks, Kabulov said in a statement as quoted in a report by Anadolu News Agency on Friday.
Kabulov made the remarks after meeting with Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation and Riza Hakan Tekin, head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Asia Department, in Ankara, the report said.
“The US has proposed establishing grounds for reconciliation in Afghanistan, and Russia is ready to consider this offer,” Kabulov said.
He said Russia is also ready to cooperate with the US in the fight against al-Qaeda and Daesh, the report added.
After meeting with Kabulov Khalilzad said in a tweet that he and his Russian counterpart discussed agreed that all-inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue is essential to advance peace efforts.
“To move forward, Afghans should name a unified, inclusive and national negotiating team that includes the Afghan government and other Afghans,” he said.
The US envoy said they also agreed that “any final agreement must guarantee that Afghan soil is never used by international terrorists against any country”.
During his trip to Kabul last week, Khalilzad called on the Afghan government to form an inclusive and national negotiating team.
The Afghan government has already has formed a team, but Khalilzad says new figures show be included to make it inclusive and national.
