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Taliban foreign minister to take part in consultations on Afghanistan — Russian envoy

It is noted that Russia did not invite the United States to the Moscow Format meeting on Afghanistan on September 29 as an observer

MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/. Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi of Afghanistan’s interim Taliban [outlawed in Russia] government will arrive in Russia on Monday to take part in the Moscow Format of consultations on Afghanistan in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russian Presidential Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov told TASS.

"Yes, he will be arriving already today," Kabulov said in reply to a relevant question.

Russia did not invite the United States to the Moscow Format meeting on Afghanistan on September 29 as an observer, said Kabulov, who is also the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asia Department.

"No, we did not invite [US representatives] and we had not planned to," the diplomat went on to say. The expanded troika format for talks on Afghanistan involving the United States is now virtually defunct, he noted. "The quartet of Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran, has taken its place. This format will continue working for now. Then we will see," he added.

Russia expects that at the Kazan meeting the countries of the region will reaffirm their position to see an ethnically and politically inclusive government established in Afghanistan and a strengthening of the fight against threats emanating from the country, such as terrorism and drugs.

The Moscow group on Afghanistan will meet in Kazan on September 29. Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the meeting would discuss the current situation in Afghanistan, intra-Afghan reconciliation, regional security and post-conflict reconstruction. A joint statement is expected to be issued.

The Moscow group on Afghanistan brings together Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Its previous meeting took place in November of last year.

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Foreign policy Afghanistan

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