KABUL (SW) – Russia is set to host an international conference for peace in Afghanistan on March 18, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
The spokesman for the High Council for National Reconciliation, Feredon Khwazon, told Salam Watandar that the council’s chairman, Abdullah Abdullah, has received an invitation to a meeting in Russia on the Afghan peace process and was consulting on it.
He added the meeting would be held on March 18, and that some Afghan government leaders, politicians, the Taliban and representatives of a number of countries in the region have also been invited to attend.
According to him, the head of the HCNR has not yet decided whether to attend the meeting or not.
Russia’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, had previously said that a meeting on Afghan peace process would be held in Russia, and that the United States and other countries would be invited to attend.
Hezb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Wahdat-e-Islami leader Abdul Karim Khalili, Junbish-e-Islami leader Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum and former President Hamid Karzai have also been invited to the meeting.
Meanwhile, analysts say an Afghan peace conference in Russia will speed up the peace process.
Fazlur Rehman Orya, an analyst, said the meeting is aimed at establishing coordination among countries in the region on Afghan peace.
It is noteworthy that Moscow has twice before hosted a meeting between Afghan politicians and the Taliban before the start of intra-Afghan peace talks in Qatar.
Several members of the Taliban’s negotiating team in Qatar also recently visited Moscow and met with Russian officials.
ENDS
