Afghan government invited both US and Russia to participate in peace conference

The Afghan government said on Saturday that it would participate in two separate US and Russian-backed peace conferences in the coming weeks.

Officials said the Russian-backed conference is scheduled for March 18, while a US-sponsored one will take place in Turkey next month.

Peace talks between the Afghan government and rebel Taliban in Qatar’s capital Doha have stalled to a large extent.

“The Afghan government will participate in both Moscow and Turkey conferences,” Hamadullah Mohib, an advisor to the country’s National Security Council, told reporters in Kabul.

Also read: Russia to join Taliban’s Afghan Interim Government

A Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Naeem, told Reuters that he had received an invitation from Moscow, but had not yet decided whether to participate. The Taliban has not made any comment about the proposed meeting in Turkey.

It comes at a crunch time for the peace process as the May 1 deadline for foreign troops to withdraw from the looms of Afghanistan and the United States reviews its military commitments.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a letter to President Ashraf Ghani, said earlier this month that there was a renewed push for UN-led peace efforts and that Turkey would be called “a senior- Asked to host level meeting. Peace Accord. “

Mr Blinken wrote to Afghan leaders that the United States “is considering a full withdrawal of forces by May 1 as we consider other options”.

Russia plans to hold a conference on Afghanistan in Moscow on March 18 and has invited several regional players, with the Afghan government and politicians jumping to begin the peace process as Washington’s diplomacy picks up. is.