MOSCOW — Sitting between Afghan envoys and their fierce rivals from the Taliban movement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov promised Friday to work for a united and peaceful Afghanistan, showcasing his country’s return to the diplomatic forefront as the Afghan war grinds on.
Russia is hosting the unprecedented peace conference almost 30 years after it pulled out of Afghanistan in disgrace, ending a decade-long occupation. The United States and other nations have repeatedly failed to stem the fighting that has wracked the country almost continuously for four decades.
“Russia stands for preserving the one and undivided Afghanistan, in which all of the ethnic groups that inhabit this country would live side by side peacefully and happily,” Lavrov said, sitting between a five-man Taliban delegation and four members of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, a government-appointed body charged with overseeing the peace process.
“Russia, as the organizer of this session, sees its role in working together with Afghanistan’s regional partners and friends who have gathered at this table today to extend all possible assistance to facilitate the start of a constructive intra-Afghan dialogue,” he added.
There are few expectations of significant breakthroughs during the Moscow meeting, which was attended by representatives of 11 countries, including regional heavyweights China, Iran and Pakistan.
As the delegates gathered around a large table in a Moscow hotel, the atmosphere was jovial and almost festive. Hugs were exchanged with members of the Taliban. There was waving and winking at familiar faces. Ahead of the talks, Taliban delegates drank cups of green tea, while their Russian minders downed lattes.
The Taliban statement issued beforehand described the gathering as a forum to lay out the Islamist insurgent group’s demands for a peace process, including its objections to the presence of U.S. and other foreign military forces in the country.
A representative from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow attended, but only as an observer.
Yet bringing both sides of the Afghan conflict to Moscow is still a major success for Russia as the Kremlin seeks to reclaim its clout and influence on the world stage.
Afghanistan also brings up some painful historic memories. Nearly 40 years have passed since the Red Army invaded Afghanistan, beginning a disastrous decade-long war that ended with the Soviets’ humiliating withdrawal.
[Behind the scenes, Moscow rebuilds its influence in Afghanistan]
“Russia has the experience of war. If it gains the experience of peace, we welcome it,” said Habiba Sarabi, the deputy chair of the High Peace Council and the only woman — from any country — to take part in the talks.
The talks come after years of back-channel diplomacy between Moscow and the Taliban.
The Taliban has spoken to a range of countries in recent years, including the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, but often under the shroud of secrecy.
Friday’s meeting in Moscow was the first of its kind to take place publicly.
A previous attempt to host Afghan talks two months ago was thwarted — and the Kremlin’s invite to the Taliban rescinded — when the Afghan government objected, saying it must lead the outreach. Washington also declined to attend, saying the talks were unlikely to yield any progress.
Kabul chose not to send diplomats to the talks but instead sent the High Peace Council, a government-affiliated body that pursues reconciliation with the Taliban.
“The United States stands ready to work with all interested parties to support and facilitate a peace process,” State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said this week.
Any peace plan also would need close coordination with the U.S. military.
Heavily strained ties between Washington and Moscow are influencing decisions on who should join the Afghan talks, according to a former senior U.S. official. “The U.S., of course, is naturally skeptical, but that’s only because the Russians are convening it,” said the former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss views on U.S. diplomacy.
The Taliban delegation included top political envoy Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai and his deputy, Abdul Salam Hanafi, both from the Taliban’s political office in Doha, the Qatari capital.
That Doha office is increasingly acting as a mediator.
In recent months, the U.S. special adviser on Afghan peace, Zalmay Khalilzad, met Taliban representatives in Qatar, where both sides agreed to continue dialogue. Khalilzad’s reported meeting — only the Taliban vouched it had taken place — came just months after senior State Department official Alice Wells went there.
Besides serving as a potential peace broker, Russia has considerable worries of its own when it comes to an unstable Afghanistan.
Groups affiliated with the Islamic State have gained footholds in northern Afghanistan, near countries with close Moscow ties including Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
But, the Taliban warned, “there will be no negotiating of any sort” at the talks. This especially applies to representatives of the Kabul administration, whom the Taliban has long accused of being willing “puppets” of an American-led occupation.
Instead, the Taliban insisted, the meeting “is about finding a peaceful solution” for Afghanistan. For years, the Taliban has maintained that the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan is the greatest obstacle to peace.
Last year, President Trump roughly doubled the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, to the current deployment of 14,000.
Sayed Salahuddin in Kabul contributed to this report.
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