Afghanistan Consults Its Participation in Joining Moscow Talks

The government of Afghanistan has not decided yet to attend a multinational peace conference on Afghanistan which will be held in Moscow in mid-April, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

“Discussions are still in progress if the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is sending a delegation to participate in the next Moscow meeting or not,” Shekib Mustaghni, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press conference on Tuesday.

Mustaghni added that even if the government decide to participate in the meeting in Russia, Kabul will continue its consultation about the level of the delegation.

These remarks come as earlier reports emerged that the United States has also rejected Russia invitation to Afghan peace conference; reasoning that the U.S. wasn’t consulted before receiving the invitation and doesn’t know Russia’s objectives for the gathering.

Russia says the aim of the meeting is to jump-start the stalled peace process in Afghanistan.

So far Moscow has hosted two meetings on the agenda and about eleven countries including Afghanistan, the United States, Pakistan, China, Iran, India and several Central Asian states are invited to the third Conference.

Kabul attended the second round of Moscow talks in mid-February after showing anger for being excluded from Russia, Pakistan and China trilateral meeting last year.

By: Elaha Omari & Hesamuddin Hesam