Taliban, Afghan authorities not to negotiate in upcoming months - Russian diplomat
MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry does not expect the beginning of direct negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan authorities for now.
"Personally, I do not see any prospects for launching the peace process at this stage," Zamir Kabulov, Special Representative of the Russian President for Afghanistan, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second Asia Department, told Interfax.
"It may be possible to speak about prospects of the negotiations with them in autumn. Direct negotiations are unlikely to take place in the near future," he said.
"The efforts taken in the quadripartite negotiating group [Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States] do not look serious against the background of what is happening in Afghanistan," the diplomat said.
"This is idle talk as long as the Taliban is not a party to the negotiations," Kabulov said.
"So far, statements coming from the Taliban are discouraging. They say they are ready to sit down and negotiate after foreign troops are pulled back, and the UN Security Council cancels the anti-Taliban sanctions," the special representative of the Russian president said.
"This is an impasse; we are back to the starting point, and the Taliban is strengthening its positions. They are readying for a large-scale war in the spring and summer period," he said.
