Taliban turns to Russia after US talks fail

The Taliban have sent a delegation to Russia to discuss prospects for a withdrawal of the United States troops from Afghanistan following the collapse of talks with the US this month, officials from the insurgent group said.

The move, days after US President Donald Trump cancelled a planned meeting with Taliban leaders at his Camp David retreat, came as the movement looked to bolster regional support, with visits planned for China, Iran and Central Asian states.

“The purpose of these visits is to inform leaders of these countries about the peace talks and Trump’s decision to call off the peace process at a time when both sides had resolved all outstanding issues and were about to sign a peace agreement,” said a Taliban leader in Qatar.

Russia, which has hosted meetings between the Taliban and Afghan political and civil society representatives, said this week it hoped that the process could be put back on track.

“The complete end to foreign military presence is an inalienable condition of peace in Afghanistan,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said.

However, it was unclear whether the talks could be resumed.

A Taliban leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the purpose of the visits was not to try to revive negotiations with the US, but to assess regional support for forcing the insurgency group to leave Afghanistan.

The US and Taliban officials held months of talks in Doha and agreed to a draft accord that would have seen 5,000 US troops withdrawn from Afghanistan in exchange for security guarantees from the Taliban.

The deal, intended as a preliminary step to a wider peace agreement, faced heavy criticism from the Afghan government, which was shut out of the talks.

Many former senior US officials who had worked in the region also warned a hasty withdrawal risked destabilising the country and even plunging it back into a new round of civil war.

The draft accord did not include a ceasefire agreement and with violence continuing, Trump announced the cancellation of the Camp David meeting via Twitter after a suicide bomb attack in Kabul killed at least 12 people, including a US soldier.

He subsequently described the talks as dead and said US forces would step up operations against the Taliban, who controlled more territory than at any time since they were ousted from power by a US-led campaign in 2001.