Russia, U.S., China aim to cajole Taliban into inter-Afghan talks

KABUL (Reuters) - Russia, the United States and China will this week try to press Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents to hold talks with Afghan politicians and civilians, an important step in a process aimed at ending the Afghan war.

Representatives of the three countries will meet in Moscow on Thursday hoping to accelerate the pace of talks with the Taliban, days after the collapse of a meeting, aimed at bringing together rival Afghan sides, laid bare tensions that have hampered moves towards formal negotiations.

The U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, who has held several rounds of direct talks with Taliban officials in Qatar, will attend the meeting in Moscow.

“On this trip, I am working to build on international support for Afghan peace process and push Afghan parties forward on dialogue and negotiations. A bump in the road isn’t reason to slow down,” Khalilzad said on Twitter this week.

Khalilzad has made some progress in his talks with the Taliban, in particular in two main areas: a Taliban demand for the withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign forces and a U.S. demand the Taliban guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used as a base for militant attacks.

Two other main issues in the process are a ceasefire and talks between the rival Afghan sides, or inter-Afghan talks. - Read More

Russia, US, China aim to cajole Taliban into inter-Afghan talks - Reuters