Moscow to host meeting on Afghanistan next week

KABUL: A number of Afghan politicians, including former President Hamid Karzai, and a number of Taliban members have been invited to attend a meeting in Moscow next week in which they will discuss issues about Afghanistan, especially the peace process.

The meeting will be held on May 27 to commemorate the 100 years of relations between Afghanistan and Russia. “Any effort in anywhere is helpful for peace because the people of Afghanistan want peace,” said Ahmadullah Alizai, an invited politician. “It is possible that it will strengthen visits, but there is no specific issue for peace that ought to be discussed,” said Rahim Beg Yaqubi, member of the High Peace Council. In a Facebook post, former President Karzai has written that he has been invited to the meeting by the Russian Ambassador to Kabul Alexander Mantytskiy and he has warmly accepted the invitation.

“Moscow should change its politics and should try to provide the condition for a meeting between the Afghan government and the Taliban,” said Shinkai Karokhail, an MP. The Afghan government did not comment whether it has been invited to the meeting or not, but reports indicate that the High Peace Council’s Chairman Mohammad Karim Khalili has been invited.

Khalili is in Brussels for a two-day meeting on Afghan peace on May 21 and 22, where diplomats from the United States and European Union have also attended. The meeting was organized by the European Institute of Peace.