KABUL (TCA) — Taliban commander Sher Agha says that the Taliban movement is in favor of direct peace negotiations with the Afghan government without waiting for the participation of other parties. The news comes after earlier announcement of the Afghan Foreign Ministry that it would not attend the Moscow format meeting on Afghanistan scheduled for September 4, Russia’s Sputnik news agency reports.
“Peace negotiations should be among Afghans and for Afghans. We should not wait for Pakistan, Iran, Russia, or America to bring peace to Afghanistan,” Taliban commander Sher Agha said on September 3, as quoted by CNN.
On August 27, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that multiparty talks in Moscow aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan had been postponed after a request from the Afghan president.
The ministry said in a statement that the 12-party talks, which were scheduled for September 4 and expected to include representatives from the Taliban, would be put off for another date.
The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier in August said that other countries invited to the Moscow talks included Pakistan, China, Iran, India, and the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia.
Representatives for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said his government would not be attending, saying the process should be led by the Afghan government.
The United States also declined to attend the Moscow talks, asserting they were unlikely to be successful.
