Russia, US, China discuss Afghanistan peace process

Monitoring Desk

MOSCOW: Top envoys of the U.S., Russia, and China involved in Afghanistan peace talks have agreed to a “consensus” describing a set of principles for national reconciliation in the war-torn country, said Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday.

“The three sides encourage the Afghan Taliban to participate in peace talks with a broad, representative Afghan delegation that includes the government as soon as possible.”

“Toward this end, and as agreed in Moscow in February 2019, we support a second round of intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha (Qatar),” read a statement issued after the meeting in Moscow between Russia’s Zamir Kabulov, Zalmay Khalilzad of the U.S. and China’s Deng Xijun.

The statement said China, Russia, and the U.S. respected the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan as well as its right to choose its development path.

“The three sides prioritize the interests of the Afghan people in promoting a peace process,” the document said.

The statement also called for “an inclusive Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace process”, for which it said Beijing, Moscow, and Washington were ready to provide the necessary assistance.

The statement expressed support by China, Russia, and the U.S. to the Afghan government’s efforts to combat international terrorism, taking note of the Afghan Taliban’s commitment to fight Daesh and cut ties with Al-Qaeda and other international terrorist groups.

The three countries also urged regional countries to extend support to the trilateral consensus and stressed the importance of fighting illegal drug production and trafficking, according to the statement.

“The three sides call for an orderly and responsible withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan as part of the overall peace process,” the statement read. (AA)