Russia Ready To Revive Multilateral Afghan Talks In Moscow Any Time - Lavrov

(@FahadShabbir)

Russia Ready to Revive Multilateral Afghan Talks in Moscow Any Time - Lavrov

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2021) Russia stands ready to welcome all stakeholders in the Afghan peace process back to Moscow, which has hosted several rounds of talks, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday.

The diplomat spoke to the press after a meeting in Moscow with Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar.

"Russia has reaffirmed its principled policy of providing all possible assistance to create the conditions for the intra-Afghan national reconciliation ... We will be ready at any moment to bring back the Moscow format, in which all the key states of the region and the US are present," Lavrov said.

He said Russia would continue its efforts to help Afghanistan onto the path toward reconciliation both through bilateral contacts and within the expanded troika of Russia, the US and China, plus Pakistan.

The Afghan government and the Taliban have been struggling to agree a peace deal during US-brokered talks in Doha. Their start in September coincided with a rise in violence on the ground. With only two months left until the deadline for the US to pull troops from Afghanistan, the future of the talks is grim.