The aim is to try “to work out a common position on the changing situation in Afghanistan,” said the Kremlin’s Afghanistan representative, Samir Kabulov, on Friday. Originally, the USA should also be represented in the talks. However, a US State Department spokesman said Monday the US would not attend. He gave logistical reasons for this.
Talks between Russian representatives and the radical Islamic Taliban are planned for Wednesday on how a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan can be averted. Russia fears that the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) will spread further into Central Asia from Afghanistan. The Taliban used the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan to regain power in the Hindu Kush in mid-August.