29 April 2016

Russia ready to join Afghan talks: Interfax cites Russian official

Apr 27, 2016

Russia is ready to join stuttering peace talks on Afghanistan if interests of all parties taking part in them are respected, including Afghanistan itself, Interfax news agency cited Russian envoy on Afganistan Zamir Kabulov as saying on Wednesday.

Russia considers inefficient the current format of the talks, sponsored by the four-power group of Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States and China, and does not plan to join in, although Moscow is ready to create a new format, he said.

The Afghan government refused to take part in the talks just a week after a massive bomb blast in Kabul killed at least 64 people and wounded hundreds on April 19.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt, writing by Denis Pinchuk; editing by Dmitry Solovyov)

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