Russia will be hosting the United States, China and Pakistan next week for talks pertaining to the situation in Afghanistan.
Moscow will host the talks on October 19 as per the Kremlin’s envoy. Zamir Kabulov said that the meeting would take place on Tuesday and that the countries “will try to work out a common position on the changing situation in Afghanistan”.
Kabulov said they have received confirmation from the representatives of the Taliban that they will take part in the talks in Moscow next week. However, the names of members in their delegation have not been announced yet.
According to reports, Moscow talks will also involve India, Iran, China, and Pakistan.
Earlier in March, Moscow hosted an international conference on Afghanistan at which Russia, the United States, China, and Pakistan released a joint statement calling on the then-warring Afghan sides to reach a peace deal and end violence.
Since then, the US and its allies have withdrawn their troops from Afghanistan after 20 years. The Taliban have seized power while the previous government has collapsed.
Russia is concerned about the potential for fallout in the wider region and the possibility of Islamist militants infiltrating the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, which Moscow views as its southern defensive buffer.
Since the Taliban takeover of Kabul, Moscow has held military exercises in Tajikistan and bolstered hardware at its military base there.
