Kabul hails Moscow’s move to postpone Afghan peace meeting

KABUL: Afghanistan welcomed on Tuesday Russia’s decision to postpone a multilateral meeting on the peace process in Afghanistan as violence escalates and political disarray deepens.
“This is a positive development and we welcome it,” Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sibghat Ahmadi told Arab News.
While the Taliban confirmed the participation of the group’s emissaries, the Afghan government and the US, which are battling militants including the Taliban, refused to take part in the meeting set for Sept. 4.
Kabul turned down Russia’s offer, insisting that talks with the insurgents must be under the Afghan government’s aegis.
Other regional powers were also invited to attend the Moscow moot. However, India, China and Iran argued that the meeting would bear no result without the participation of Kabul and the US, a senior Afghan government official told Arab News, requesting anonymity.
This prompted Moscow to delay the moot and also include Kabul to manage it jointly with Russia, he said.
Waheed Mozhdah, a political analyst, said Uzbekistan played the role of negotiator between Moscow and Kabul to reschedule the meeting by sending its foreign minister to Kabul to meet the Afghan authorities Sunday.
Later on Sunday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also telephoned Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss and sort out the differences regarding the meeting, the presidential palace said in a statement.
The Russian minister said: “We want peace with the ownership of the Afghans and are ready for any fruitful cooperation. We will exert any effort and cooperation with the coordination of Afghanistan’s government.
“Similarly, during the telecon, it was decided that for the purpose of preparations and further effectiveness, the Moscow meeting would be postponed so that both countries jointly prepare for it and the governments of Afghanistan and Russia jointly manage and host this meeting.”
The meeting comes amid heightened political tension in the Afghan government and rising attacks by the Taliban as well as Daesh’s affiliates.
Moscow has expressed concern over potential infiltration of Daesh militants into Central Asia, which it considers as its traditional backyard, and has demanded the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
The Taliban could not be reached for comment immediately. Mozhdah said the leadership of the group, which in the past has repeatedly refused to hold direct talks with Kabul, will now decide its next move on the Moscow meeting.
“Time will reveal what happens to the Moscow meeting. Let’s see what impact it has on peace efforts, if it indeed takes place,” said Mozhdah.