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Russian envoy expects formation of coalition government in Afghanistan to take long

According to Zamir Kabulov, Russia, the US, Pakistan and China seek to use their influence to encourage the parties to the conflict to start making agreements

MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/. Talks on forming an interim coalition government in Afghanistan will take a long time, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said during online discussions hosted by the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund on Tuesday.

"It will be a long process. And it doesn’t mean that peace and calm will immediately come to Afghanistan, we realize that. However, this will be the beginning of a road to peace and prosperity in Afghanistan," he pointed out.

"We believe that such an interim coalition government should have a certain timeframe, say, two or three years, I can’t decide for the Afghan people, it’s up to them," Kabulov added. "However, this kind of an interim body, which won’t be elected by the Afghan people at this point, should create the conditions for Afghanistan to be restored as a normal state with democratic government agencies acting based on Afghan models, hold elections if there will be a decision on that and elect new permanent authorities. It is a long road. To go all the way, the first steps need to be taken," the Russian envoy said.

According to Kabulov, members of the Extended Troika on Afghanistan (Russia, the US, Pakistan and China) seek to use their influence to encourage the parties to the conflict to start making agreements.

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