Afghanistan, Russia set to co-chair proposed future talks

Kabul [Afghanistan]: Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Tuesday said that Russia and Afghanistan are set to co-chair proposed future talks in Moscow.

ToLo News reported MoFA as saying, the Moscow talks should be held the leadership of the Afghan government.

The Acting Deputy Foreign Minister for Management and Resources Nasir Andisha said that schedules are being drawn up by the representatives of the two countries for the future talks aimed at encouraging political support for intra-Afghan dialogue.

Andisha said, "Delegations from Afghanistan, the Russian Federation, the Central Asian countries and Afghanistan's partners are working on a timeline and agenda for the meeting. We will determine the time based on a consensus."

This comes following the announcement by the Afghan government on Monday regarding the postponement of the Moscow talks which were to happen on September 4.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had announced that members of the Taliban would visit Russia next month to discuss on a peace strategy in Afghanistan.

Though Russia does not share any border with Afghanistan, Moscow has stepped up efforts in recent times to reach out to the Taliban, to enter into peace negotiations with the US-backed Afghan government. The group is banned in Russia.

For years, Taliban militants in Afghanistan have been using suicide bombers to create unrest in the region, claiming that their struggle is a holy war to impose Islamic rule.