Russia hosts negotiations on Afghanistan on November 9



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MOSCOW: Russia announced on Saturday that it would hold international negotiations on Afghanistan on November 9, with representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Moscow said that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the Taliban had agreed to send delegations to the conference.

"This will be the first time that a delegation from the Taliban movement's political bureau in Doha will participate in international talks (at such a level"), says the statement from the Foreign Ministry.

She added that Moscow had also invited representatives of the United States, as well as India, Iran, China, Pakistan and five former Soviet republics. Central Asia to participate.

"The Russian side reiterates its position that there is no alternative to a political settlement in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan," the statement said.

Ghani – who took office in 2014 when US-led NATO combat troops withdrew from Afghanistan – announced Saturday that he would re-run in 2019.

He is supposed to stand in front of war-weary voters as the only candidate who can put an end to the 17-year-old conflict in the country.

An observer from the US government said this week that Kabul's control of Afghanistan had been reduced in recent months as local security forces suffered a record number of casualties while doing little or no progress against the Taliban.

The United States has redoubled its efforts to engage the Taliban in peace talks, which show tentative signs of fruitful results.

Taliban officials have met with US officials at least twice in Qatar in recent months, most recently on Oct. 12 with US special envoy for peace Zalmay Khalilzad.

Moscow has declared itself ready to serve as a platform for dialogue.

In April 2017, Russia organized an international conference on Afghanistan.

The United States was invited to this meeting but did not participate.

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