Russia said on Saturday that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had agreed to send a group of senior politicians to peace talks in Moscow, at which a delegation representing the Taliban would be present.
Russia in August proposed holding multilateral peace talks in Moscow, and invited 12 countries and the Taliban to attend a summit the following month. But the meeting was postponed after Ghani rejected the invitation on the grounds that talks with the Taliban should be led by the Afghan government.
In a statement on Saturday, Russia’s foreign ministry said the talks were now confirmed to be held on Nov. 9.
“It will be the first time that a delegation from the Taliban’s political office in Doha will attend such a high-level international meeting,” the foreign ministry said.
The ministry has invited several other countries to send representatives, including India, Iran, Pakistan, China and the United States.
Published in Daily Times, November 4th 2018.
