Russia hopes intra-Afghan talks will be held before year-end - senior diplomat

MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. Russia expects the intra-Afghan meeting in Beijing to be held before the end of this year, Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan and Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov told TASS on Wednesday. "Yes, we believe that this can happen in the immediate future, perhaps, this month. I am ready to participate." He added that a date for the meeting had not been agreed on yet, because China had problems coordinating the list of participants from Kabul. In October, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said that Beijing would provide comprehensive support for a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan and facilitate dialogue between all parties involved in that process. On November 11, Geng Shuang said that China was preparing a platform for intra-Afghan negotiations on its territory. The previous intra-Afghan meetings were held in Moscow and Doha. A delegation of the Qatar-based political office of the Taliban group (outlawed in Russia) took part in the talks. Read more