Pictured: Afghan Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar (R) and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov
The Russian Federation has expressed its strong opposition to the return of the Taliban’s regime in Afghanistan and said that it prefers improvement in the ongoing peace efforts between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
This statement from Russia came as Afghan Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar visited Moscow and met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov said that Moscow was in contact with other countries involved in the Afghanistan peace process. He urged that the Taliban avoid putting new demands in the talks. “Our main message to the Taliban is to resume meaningful dialogue as soon as possible, avoid further escalation of violence to reach to a conclusion and respect the decisions of the UN Security Council,” Lavrov said.
The Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has welcomed Russia’s stance. “We strongly support Russia’s position on the Afghan peace process, particularly the stance that the return of Taliban regime will not be acceptable,” Atmar said hours after his meeting with Lavrov on Friday. “We also welcome Russia’s stance on the UN sanctions on the Taliban,” Atmar added.
A statement from the MoFA said that Russia is not in favor of removing the names of Taliban leaders from the UN blacklist without any progress in the Afghan peace talks. “The Taliban shouldn’t be removed from the sanctions list unless they abide by their commitments toward peace,” Atmar said.
“Durable peace in Afghanistan is possible only within the framework of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Republic will not allow international terrorism to operate in Afghanistan and this is in the interest of Russia”, Atmar further stated.
Meanwhile, State Ministry for Peace Affairs Sayed Saadat Mansoor Naderi called on the Taliban to demonstrate flexibility in the talks and agree on a ceasefire. “Afghans want an end to the bloodshed. Afghans want dignified peace, Let’s not waste this opportunity. The solution lies in the negotiating table,” Naderi said.
“The second round of talks is quite important. This round should move forward without any delay,” said Assadullah Saadati, the deputy head of the High Council for National Reconciliation.
Russia bats for transitional coalition government in Afghanistan
Earlier, Russian Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov in an interview with Sputnik had said that Moscow prefers that all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan agree on the establishment of an inclusive and transitional coalition government.
Kaboluv stated that Russia believes it would be good if there was a transitional coalition government in place in which the Taliban had political status. He said the peace talks in Doha have failed, calling for the peace process to proceed in the Moscow format with the presence of the US, Russia, China and Afghanistan’s neighboring nations.
The Russian envoy said that the talks in Doha are only about making contact, not peace negotiations.
The Afghan Republic and the Taliban negotiators held their third meeting on Thursday evening after over a month-long deadlock in the talks with the main focus on the agenda of the negotiators. The meeting was held in working group level that is aimed at finalizing the agenda of the negotiations.
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