KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th February, 2021) Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar has met with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev to discuss the bilateral political and security cooperation, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.
Atmar arrived in Russia for a three-day visit this past Wednesday. The Afghan minister had meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Aleksandr Morozov, and other senior officials.
"The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mr. Mohammad Hanif Atmar, met with the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Mr. Nikolai Patrushev.�During the meeting, they discussed cooperation between the two countries, especially in the areas of political and security cooperation," the ministry said in a statement on the meeting, which took place on Saturday.
Atmar stressed, as cited by the ministry, that Kabul fulfilled all its obligations under the deal with the Taliban and released roughly 6,000 Taliban militants, adding that the Taliban failed to adhere to the agreement.
"Regarding the peace process, Mr. Atmar said that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has fulfilled all its obligations, including the release of up to 6,000 Taliban prisoners. He added that in the process, the Taliban was expected to reduce violence as promised, negotiate a ceasefire, sever ties with terrorist groups and released prisoners will prevent to the battlefield But the Taliban have broken their promises in all four cases," the statement read.
Last February, the Taliban and the Afghan government reached a landmark agreement, mediated by the United States, paving the way for peace talks, which began in the Qatari capital of Doha on September 12. The Doha negotiations failed to put an end to the confrontation on the ground. On the contrary, Afghanistan has witnessed a spate of bomb attacks and clashes in recent months, with the military continuing to regularly conduct operations against Taliban operatives, who are now said to control some three-fourths of Afghan land.
