Taliban and Afghan emissaries meet in Moscow

A Taliban delegation and emissaries backed by the Afghan government attended the multinational peace talks in Moscow on Friday, the first time such a meeting took place in public.

The Moscow talks also sharply highlighted Russia's increased role in Afghanistan, 30 years after the departure of Soviet troops from the country following a disastrous war.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov opened the meeting in a gilded conference room of the hotel-president in Moscow. The two delegations met around a circular table with deputy foreign ministers from other countries in the region, including China, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Russia described the meeting as an attempt to bring direct peace talks closer to one another between the Taliban-backed Afghan government and the United States.

"Russia, as convener of this conference, considers that its role is, together with the regional partners and friends of Afghanistan gathered around this table, to offer all the assistance possible to launch a constructive dialogue between Afghans, "Lavrov said.

But little was expected of the event, which both sides emphasized was not a formal negotiation.

Sergei Chirkov / EPA via Shutterstock

After two hours of talks, Taliban spokesman Muhammad Sohail Shaheen reiterated the group's position that no direct negotiations are possible before US troops leave for Afghanistan. Shaheen said the delegation of the five-member Taliban diplomatic bureau did not speak directly to the Afghan-backed government-backed Afghan envoys.

"This is not a negotiation," Shaheen told reporters. "They came here to express their views, and we came here to express our views, that's all."

Habiba Sarabi, a delegate to the High Peace Council and former Afghan Minister for Women's Rights, told ABC News that the two delegations had spoken but had just exchanged pleasantries.

"Just a friendly interview, a pleasant interview," said Sarabi, noting that this was his first meeting with the Taliban delegation.

"For example, how are you doing, maybe you bring another representative next time," she added, referring to the ultra-conservative attitude of the Taliban with regard to human rights. women.

The United States and the Afghan government refused invitations to formally participate in the meeting on the grounds that they support only direct talks between the government and the Taliban. Instead, the Afghan government sent the four members of the High Peace Council, a body set up to try to start peace negotiations. The US Embassy in Moscow sent its first political secretary, Jacob Choi, to observe the event.

Friday's meeting was an important diplomatic victory for Moscow, but it sought to play a more important role in Afghanistan.

Beyond the political scope, US military officials recently accused Russia of providing arms to the Taliban. Russia denies this claim, but experts believe the deliveries could include building relationships with the group and helping them fight ISIL militants seeking to establish themselves in Afghanistan.

The Russian effort comes as the Trump administration sees its own renewed push for peace talks to contrast with the intensification of the war in Afghanistan. This week, the Special Representative of the White House for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, goes to the region to put pressure on the Taliban and the government to form negotiating teams. The United States supports Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's call to the government to discuss unconditionally with the Taliban.

The Taliban have so far rejected Ghani's offer, insisting on direct talks with the United States.

The sad reality of the war, however, provided a fund unchanged on Friday. At the start of negotiations, officials in Afghanistan said that a Taliban attack killed 10 soldiers. The attack on an army outpost in Takhar province took place when US envoy Khalilzad arrived in Afghanistan to begin his peace tour.

Sarabi said the Kabul delegation had come to Moscow "to meet with all the members of the meeting" and that they wanted this to lead to direct negotiations.

Russia's re-emergence in Afghan affairs partly reflects a broader strategy to strengthen its appearance as a mediator on the world stage.

In addition to its intervention in Syria, the Kremlin has recently become more involved in Libya and has even proposed, so far unsuccessfully, as a possible new forum for talks between Israel and Palestine.

But Russia also fears that an American failure in Afghanistan will become a renewed source of terrorism and is already seeking to block the flow of narcotics from the country. Opening the talks, Lavrov warned that the Islamic State wanted to make Afghanistan a "bridgehead" to expand into Central Asia.

Taliban spokesman Shaheen described Russia's role as "positive". He also denied providing weapons to the group.

The warm smiles and handshakes between the Russian and Afghan delegations underline in a way the difficult story that the event has brought about. The Soviet Union's nine-year war in Afghanistan devastated the country and killed at least 14,500 Soviet soldiers and 90,000 mujahideen fighters who fought them. The UN estimates that between 700,000 and 1.3 million people have been killed in the fighting.

This story was exhibited in person at the Moscow Hotel, where the High Peace Council delegation was led by Haji Deen Mohammad, a former Mujahideen commander, seated in traditional dress in the midst of heavy Soviet-style decor.

"He is happy to be here and they are all happy to be here," said Dr. Abdul Qayyum Kochai, Afghanistan's ambassador to Russia.

Kochai, however, expressed reservations about the importance of the Russian peace effort. He said that Afghanistan would be grateful if Russia was trying "honestly" to restore peace, but acknowledged that he was not sure about it.

"I do not know. I wish that. I wish, "said Kochai.