MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. Russia is ready to offer a Moscow venue for direct talks between the government of Afghanistan and Taliban (outlawed in Russia), but the current developments in the country stand in the way of a dialogue, Russian President’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov told TASS on Thursday.
"We have always emphasized the necessity of settling the situation in Afghanistan peacefully, through direct negotiations between the parties in the conflict and under the guidance of Afghans themselves," said the diplomat, who is also Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department.
"Russia is ready to offer a Moscow venue for direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban movement, but the current situation in the country impedes the start of a dialogue," he said.
"Over the past few days, Afghanistan has seen a number of resounding terror attacks, in response to which Kabul said it was refusing to conduct peace negotiations with Taliban," the president’s envoy said.
Focusing on the roadmap of the Afghan government for peace talks with Taliban, the diplomat said that this strategic plan "gives Kabul’s general vision of the situation around a peace dialogue and describes the stages in the implementation of the government program to achieve peace in the country".
"The declared timeframe for translating it into life - before the end of 2020 - shows that the Afghan leadership is not sure that concrete results can be achieved in the foreseeable future," Kabulov said.