Russia’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov has said that the US President Donald Trump’s decision on negotiations with the Taliban is a “negative signal”, but Moscow expects talks will continue.
“This is certainly a negative signal, but at the same time we take note of remarks by Pompeo and representatives of the Taliban group. Despite the bellicose tone of these remarks, both sides note readiness to continue dialogue,” Mr. Kabulov said as quoted by TASS news agency.
“Since emotions are running high now, combat actions could escalate for some time, but we hope it won’t be long. We believe that in the final end this process will continue and will be successful,” he said.
The Russian envoy also noted that Russia and the US would certainly hold contacts to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
So far, this opportunity has not presented itself, he said.
“Actually, there was no time for that, and I think that my colleague Khalilzad is now somewhere on the way from Doha if he has departed for Washington, that’s why we had no actual possibility to confirm this,” Mr. Kabulov said as quoted by TASS news agency.
This comes as US President Donald Trump called off negotiations with the Taliban following a deadly attack claimed by the group in Kabul that killed 12 people including a US soldier.
