Moscow to host Taliban peace talks despite snub by Afghan government
▶ Russia wants to bring warring sides to the table while stealing a march on US truce efforts
Almost 40 years after it invaded Afghanistan, Russia says it wants to play a part in bringing peace to the country.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced it plans to host peace talks between the government and the Taliban in Moscow this week, in a move that may alarm western officials.
The ministry said on Friday that 11 countries including the US had been invited to the meeting tomorrow.
“It will be the first time that a delegation from the Taliban’s political office in Doha will attend such a high-level international meeting,” it said.
A source close to Afghan president Ashraf Ghani told
The National that the government would not send an official delegation.
“Members from the High Peace Council will be attending the talks in their own capacity,” the spokesman said, referring to the independent body of religious leaders and prominent Afghans given the responsibility for talks with the Taliban.
On Monday, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised the meetings.
“Our agreement with the Russians is that this meeting should lead to direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban,” foreign ministry spokesman Sibghat Ahmadi said.
“However, only a group of people were invited and that reflects the intentions of the Taliban, who are not yet willing to negotiate peace with the government.”
The Taliban have confirmed that they will be at the talks but said they would not be negotiating.
“This conference is not about negotiating with any particular side,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday. “Rather, it is a conference about holding comprehensive discussions on finding a peaceful solution to the Afghan quandary and ending the American occupation.
This is Russia’s second attempt to encourage the Afghan government and the Taliban to the negotiating table this year. Moscow’s plans for negotiations in September failed amid bickering after the Afghan government refused to attend .
“The Afghan government refused to participate when their conditions were not met, which included a demand to co-chair the talks and provide state protocols to only the Afghan government,” said Hekmatullah Azamy of the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies think tank in Kabul.
“The Taliban also raised concerns over the Afghan demands, which is perhaps why the government has decided to send Ulemas [scholars] from the peace council instead of an official delegation.”
Moscow’s redoubled efforts to bring together senior Taliban and Afghan leaders are a sign of frustration over Washington’s failure to bring the conflict to a close, says Artemy Kalinovsky, of the University of Amsterdam.
“For the Kremlin, these talks are an insurance policy,” Mr Kalinovsky said
“Russian officials don’t believe the US can or will finish the job in Afghanistan.
“From the Russian perspective, the Taliban is going to be a part of any solution, so you might as well start talking.”
Russia’s deepening role in Afghanistan and its seemingly cosy relationship with the Taliban has come under growing scrutiny in recent years.
Gen John Nicholson, who was the most senior ranking US military official in charge in Afghanistan until August this year, repeatedly accused Russia of supplying arms to the Taliban.
Those claims were dismissed by the Russian embassy in Kabul as “idle gossip”.
In response to the US claims, foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said the US and Nato were probably behind unidentified helicopters supplying arms to ISIS in Afghanistan.
The dispute illustrates how the competition between the US and Russia to take charge of the peace negotiations is increasing.
“The Americans are putting their weight behind the Afghan government, while the Russians feel they need to back people in the opposition,” Mr Azamy said.
He was referring to the reports that claimed former president Hamid Karzai and prominent opposition leader Atta Noor were among those invited to attend the Moscow talks.
“I strongly believe that without the Russians, the Americans can’t be successful and without the Americans the Russians can’t make progress on the talks,” Mr Azamy said.
He said that the Russians understood this dynamic and had been co-ordinating with US special ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad through private negotiations.
While Mr Khalilzad will not be attending the talks, his representatives – people from think tanks that work with the US government – will be present.
“At this point, it is very much up to the Americans to balance the equations and see how they can work with the Russians,” he said.
The unlikely alliance between the Taliban and Moscow comes 30 years after the insurgents ousted Soviet troops from Afghanistan, ending a long and costly occupation that is fresh in the minds of many Russians.
The budding ties also point to where the Kremlin’s security concerns lie now, decades on.
“The Kremlin is much more worried about ISIS than they are about the Taliban,” Mr Kalinovsky said.
“After all, the Taliban has never really had ambitions beyond the territory of Afghanistan. ISIS certainly does.”
ISIS militants from Central Asia last year claimed one of the deadliest terror attacks in recent Russian history after detonating a bomb on the metro in St Petersburg, in which 16 were killed.
Another ISIS attack this year in Tajikistan, in which four western cyclists were killed, has increased Russian concerns over the security of former Soviet countries.
The Taliban has sought to reassure Moscow that it is a reliable partner, capable of securing Soviet-era borders.
Former Taliban leader Syed Agha last year repeated that the Taliban posed no direct threat to Russia.
“Russia has its strategic goals and we, the Taliban, have ours,” Mr Agha said.
“But we are united. We consider the former Soviet republics to be the Russian border and we are able to provide stability and security of these borders.”
Mr Azamy said: “The Russians share a common cause with the Taliban – the withdrawal of the US troops.”