Afghanistan Wants Russia, US To Put Differences Aside For Sake Of Peace Process - Diplomat

Faizan Hashmi Published February 20, 2021 | 01:37 PM

Afghanistan wants to continue cooperating both with Russia and the United States and believes it would be better for the peace process if the two countries left their differences aside, Afghan Ambassador to Russia Said Tayeb Jawad told Sputnik in an interview

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2021) Afghanistan wants to continue cooperating both with Russia and the United States and believes it would be better for the peace process if the two countries left their differences aside, Afghan Ambassador to Russia Said Tayeb Jawad told Sputnik in an interview.

"It is crucial, if we want to have peace in Afghanistan, that the countries in the region, particularly Russia, should have an active role in bringing this. We have been asking our Russian friends to do their consultations with countries in the region, especially Iran, India and others, to bring their position closer to an acceptable peace in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, there are differences between Russia and the United States. And we, in Afghanistan, think that Afghanistan will be better off if these differences are left outside Afghanistan. We would like to work and cooperate with both countries.

Closely," Jawad assured.

The Afghan diplomat expressed confidence that despite all differences, both countries had the same goal of putting an end to terrorism in Afghanistan.

"The interests of the United States, Russia and Afghanistan coincide. We all want to end terrorism. We all would like to see a system in Afghanistan that accommodates the plurality of the Afghan society. The Russian friends have been very clear, and we appreciate this very much, to convey the message to the Taliban that emirate [Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, established by the Taliban] was an extremist regime in Afghanistan that was not acceptable to Moscow. So we have a lot of common grounds," Jawad continued.

The ambassador expressed hope that Russia and Afghanistan would find better ways to work together in order to achieve sustainable peace in his country.