TEHERAN (TASS): Afghanistan’s government delegation to the peace talks in Doha plans to read out an address to the countries of the region and the world, Freidun Hwazun, spokesman for the Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation, said on Tuesday.
“The delegation will present its message addressed to the countries of the region and the world,” the TOLOnews television channel quoted him as saying.
According to TOLOnews, the Afghan government delegation will be led by Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah. It is expected to take part in a meeting of Russian, US, Chinese and Pakistani special envoys.
Another round of the extended Troika (Russia, the United States, China, and Pakistan) consultations on the Afghan peace settlement began in Doha on Tuesday. The Russian delegation is led by Russian presidential special envoy for Afghanistan and director of the foreign ministry’s second Asia department Zamir Kabulov.
The Afghan government and Taliban delegations have been holding peace talks in Doha since September 12, 2020. The progress slowed down at the beginning of this year and actually stopped in mid-April after US President Joe Biden announced plans to finish the operation in Afghanistan, the longest foreign military campaign in US history, and pull out American troops by September 11. However, under Washington’s earlier agreements with the Taliban (a radical movement outlawed in Russia), US troops were supposed to be withdrawn by May 1, 2021. Following Biden’s decision, the Taliban waived their commitments under the earlier agreement with the US.
