Posted on 08/22/2018 1:03:21 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Russia said Tuesday that the Taliban have accepted an invitation for talks next month, in what promises to be one of the insurgent group's biggest diplomatic forays since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
The announcement of the planned talks comes as the Taliban have expanded their footprint across Afghanistan and launched an unrelenting wave of attacks, including a prolonged assault on Ghazni, a strategic city near Kabul, earlier this month.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow invited the Taliban to the Sept. 4 talks and was hoping for "productive" negotiations.
He rejected claims by the Afghan government that Russia is hoping to use the Taliban to combat the Islamic State group.
"I can't even hypothetically imagine how Russia could use the Taliban for fighting the IS," Lavrov said at a news conference.
In a separate statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry strongly criticized the claim, made by Afghan Ambassador Abdul Qayyum Kochai, saying it's based on "insinuations" and "completely distorts the meaning of Russia's policy on Afghanistan."
"It's deplorable that instead of helping maintain partnership and mutual trust between Russia and Afghanistan, the Afghan ambassador has taken steps leading in the opposite direction," the ministry said.
The ministry said the Sept. 4 talks in Moscow would include representatives of Russia, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Iran and India, and are intended to "help advance the process of national reconciliation in Afghanistan and establish peace in the country as soon as possible." It said other countries, including the U.S., also have been invited to attend.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Time to bomb Moscow.
Old news. Al Zwahiri of AlQaeda is KGB agent.
Putin puffers here will spin this...
And we’re arming the other guys and still propping up a gov the people don’t want. What’s your point?
Russophobe nuts are determined to let Afghans enjoy the LGBTQ freedom.
For the record...which Pentagon officials have repeatedly said that?
So much for a any rational discussion of what Russia is trying to accomplish
That would be pay back.
Howeveer it has nothing to do with what must be done to the Taliban.
The Taliban must be killed, wiped out to the last man, woman, child
Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Venezuela....allies of Russia. Nuff said.
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