The next round of intra-Afghan peace talks will be held in Moscow on 18th March. The parties invited include president Ashraf Ghani and Chairman Abdullah Abdullah of Afghanistan. Who are the envoys from the Taliban office of Doha, China, the US, Pakistan, and other foreign states.
This has been confirmed by the reconciliation council’s Fraidoon Khwazoon who further added the point that Russia plays an important role in the Afghan peace process. Hence, this meeting will be conducted to accelerate the stalling and slow-paced peace process.
Additionally, the timing of this meeting is vital since Afghanistan’s government received a cold and blunt letter from the secretary of the US state department Antony Blinken, stating the reservations of the US over the slow process of peace talks while keeping in view the withdrawal of US troops by May 1st, 2020.
Additionally, he also suggested an UN-facilitated conference in turkey with two parties (Afghan government and Taliban) alongside international stakeholders to finalize the peace process and a proposal for a 90-day reduction in violence.
It also comes at the time when Zalmay Khalilzad is on a spree of important visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan and is meeting Pakistani military and civilian authorities today after having a busy schedule in Afghanistan last week in which he met Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah.
The current in Moscow is said to have been coordinated with the US by its counterparts in the Russian federation. In 2019, Afghan opposition led by Hamid Karzai, met Afghan Taliban’s delegation in Moscow to discuss Afghan peace and possible dialogue solution.
