Russia, US Agreeing On Afghanistan Could End Armed Conflict In Country - Afghan Lawmaker

An agreement between Russia and the United States on Afghanistan will be hard to achieve but it may put an end to the long-running armed conflict in the Asian country, Delawar Aimaq, a member of the security commission of the Afghan National Assembly, told Sputnik on Thursday.

KABUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) An agreement between Russia and the United States on Afghanistan will be hard to achieve but it may put an end to the long-running armed conflict in the Asian country, Delawar Aimaq, a member of the security commission of the Afghan National Assembly, told Sputnik on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said that Moscow expected Washington to take part in the new consultations on the situation in Afghanistan. Taliban representatives would partake in the Moscow format meeting as well, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"It will be very hard to achieve this, however, if the United States and Russia reach an agreement, peace will come to Afghanistan," Aimaq said.

He also said that Washington was not interested in putting an end to the conflict in Afghanistan because it would no longer have a reason to maintain a presence in the country.

"The Americans will never allow that, they always need a war in order to maintain a presence in our country. Their plan is, while remaining in Afghanistan, to spread their influence on other countries in Central Asia and extend the area of their operations," Aimaq added.

The lawmaker also stressed that Kabul had no evidence proving Moscow's alleged aid to the Taliban movement.

"That is what local residents have been saying, some claim to have witnessed it. However, the Afghan authorities have no proof [of Russia supporting the Taliban movement]," he said.

Washington has repeatedly accused Moscow of supplying weapons to the Taliban movement, while the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that such accusations were groundless and insisted that Russia was contacting the movement solely in an effort to encourage the settlement of the conflict and ensure the safety of Russian citizens in Afghanistan.

The Taliban movement has been one of the major forces fighting Kabul for control over the country. The movement managed to seize power in 1996 but was overthrown five years later by the United States, who deployed its troops in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks to fight Al Qaeda terrorist organization (banned in Russia).

Most of the US troops left Afghanistan by the end of 2014, however, Washington maintains part of its troops in the country under an agreement with the United Nations.