Taliban invited to Moscow for talks over future of Afghanistan

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid (C) speaks to the media at the airport in Kabul (AFP)

RT.COM, 7 OCT, 2021- Russia has invited representatives of the Taliban to meet in Moscow as part of efforts to open diplomatic channels with Afghanistan’s de facto new government, President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for the country has confirmed.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Zamir Kabulov, who also serves as the director of the second Asian Department at the Russian Foreign ministry, said that an invite had been extended to Taliban officials.

However, the precise details of a meeting and who might attend it have not yet been disclosed.

Despite the Taliban being designated as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia, representatives of its political branch were granted permission to attend talks in Moscow earlier this year in an effort to forge a peace deal. Since then, the Islamist militant group has taken control of almost all of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US troops and their allies.