High Council for National Reconciliation Chairman Abdullah Abdullah will lead a 16-member delegation of the Afghan government to Moscow to attend a meeting on Thursday, the council confirmed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs “appreciates efforts made by Afghanistan’s neighboring countries and regional and international partners for peace and emphasizes the importance of continuing these efforts and cooperation.”
“Appreciating the importance of the Troika meeting on Afghanistan peace in Moscow and the proposed peace conference in Turkey, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers them complementary to the Afghanistan peace negotiations in Doha and not as a substitute to it,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is currently engaged in negotiation with the Taliban in Doha and these negotiations will continue in the future.
Meanwhile, the United States Department of State has confirmed that Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad will participate in the upcoming Moscow conference.
“Well, to answer your question on the peace process in Afghanistan as well as Special Representative Khalilzad, as of last week the Secretary said we are engaging in the region and (with) international partners to try to accelerate progress towards a political settlement, and as a part of our ongoing efforts to encourage this important peace process, Ambassador Khalilzad does plan to attend the meeting in Moscow,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
“This meeting will complement all other international efforts to support the Afghanistan peace process and also reflects the international community’s concerns about the progress to date,” he added.
The meeting comes amid new developments in the peace efforts in Afghanistan, which include US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s letter to President Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, and the US-proposed draft for Afghan peace shared with Afghan leaders.
According to the reconciliation council, the delegation includes:
Parliament Speaker Rahman Rahmani, former president Hamid Karzai, ex-vice president Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, former vice president Mohammad Karim Khalili, Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Deputy Head of Reconciliation Council Babur Farahmand, State Minister for Peace Affairs Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi, Chief Negotiator Masoom Stanekzai, republic negotiator Matin Bek, republic negotiator Nader, republic negotiator Habiba Sarabi, Senate Deputy Speaker Alam Izedyar, State Deputy Minister for Peace Affairs Abdullah Khinjani and Hizb-e-Islami members Abdul Sattar Khawasi and Ghairat Bahir.
