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Russia welcomes Afghan president’s decision to extend ceasefire with Taliban

The Russian Foreign Ministry hopes that Kabul’s new initiative "will give an impetus to efforts aimed at ending the fratricidal war"

MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/. Moscow welcomes the Afghan government’s decision to extend a ceasefire with the Taliban movement [outlawed in Russia] and hopes that it will help resolve the conflict, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"We welcome Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s statement about extending a temporary ceasefire that the country’s government declared at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan," the statement reads.

Read also

Russia to continue efforts to involve Taliban in direct negotiations with Kabul - Lavrov

"We hope that Kabul’s new initiative will give an impetus to efforts aimed at ending the fratricidal war raging on the long-suffering land of Afghanistan and will also pave the way for a peace dialogue and a national reconciliation process," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

At the same time, the ministry said it was important that the ceasefire did not apply to terrorist groups active in Afghanistan, first and foremost, the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia).

On June 7, Afghanistan’s president declared that a unilateral ceasefire with the Taliban movement on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, would take place on June 12-19. According to Reuters, the Taliban also declared a three-day ceasefire, which took effect on Friday. On June 17, the Afghan government extended the ceasefire but the Taliban said they did not intend to abide by the ceasefire and would resume military activities on Sunday night.

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