Russia calls on Taliban to form an inclusive government
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on the Taliban on Wednesday to form an inclusive government with the participation of all Afghan political forces.
“The situation in Afghanistan cannot yet be described as stable, and the terrorists are trying to take advantage of that,” Lavrov said.
He added: “There is a real threat of terrorist activity and narcotics moving from Afghanistan to neighboring countries.”
He continued: “We regret that the United States did not attend the talks (Moscow format) on Afghanistan.”
Lavrov expressed hope that the new US envoy to Afghanistan would support the outcome of the “Moscow format” talks.
He went on: “We are satisfied with the current level of interaction with the Taliban.”
News of the deterioration of the lives of the Afghan people was worrying.
He stressed that the United Nations has the primary role in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan.
The Taliban, along with 10 other countries, were seated at a meeting table in Moscow Wednesday, in the most important international meeting the movement has attended since it came to power in mid-August.
Russia is hosting these international talks on Afghanistan with the presence of the Taliban, seeking to assert its influence in Central Asia and push for action against ISIS, which it says is massing in the fragile country.
The talks, in which officials from 10 countries, including China and Pakistan, will take part, come after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last week that ISIS terrorists were massing in Afghanistan to destabilize the former Soviet republics bordering Russia.
