The Russian ambassador to Afghanistan has held a series of meetings with the Afghan leadership, aiming to promote Moscow's call on Kabul to release the remaining Taliban prisoners and launch the intra-Afghan peace talks as soon as possible, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2020) The Russian ambassador to Afghanistan has held a series of meetings with the Afghan leadership, aiming to promote Moscow's call on Kabul to release the remaining Taliban prisoners and launch the intra-Afghan peace talks as soon as possible, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
"Over the past few days, the Russian ambassador to Afghanistan held a series of meetings, one of the goals of which was to encourage the Afghan leadership to launch the direct intra-Afghan peace talks as soon as possible," Zakharova told a briefing.
According to the spokeswoman, the Afghan government is still reluctant to release the remaining Taliban prisoners, as per the US-brokered peace deal with the radical movement, despite having a carte blanche from the Loya Jirga, a council of Afghan tribal leaders.
"We call on Kabul to complete the exchange of prisoners as soon as possible and engage in a direct dialogue with the armed opposition. We stress that any protraction of the launch of the intra-Afghan talks undermines the international effort for the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan and questions the Afghan authorities' commitment to the soonest possible achievement of peace," Zakharova said.
