Russia said on Monday that Taliban was ready to talk with Kabul only after agreeing with the United States on a schedule for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

“They said that they would be ready to talk with the Afghan government only after reaching an agreement with the Americans on the schedule for withdrawing all foreign troops from Afghanistan. As a confidence-building measure, the Taliban preliminarily demand the release of all political prisoners and the cancellation of anti-Taliban sanctions imposed on them back in 1997,” Russian Foreign Ministry Second Asian Department Director Zamir Kabulov said at a press conference.

The November 9 meeting of the Moscow format on Afghanistan may be considered a breakthrough, because for the first time the Taliban attended it, which is the first step toward further full-format peace talks, according to Russian Foreign Ministry Second Asian Department Director Zamir Kabulov.

Kabulov meanwhile, stressed that the US presence does not solve problems in Afghanistan, and Moscow does not compete with Washington in a settlement in Afghanistan: the national interests of Russia and its allies are at stake.

“The United States had enough time, 17 years, to do a lot of what it originally intended. But… If you remember, in 2001 the presence of the Taliban in Afghanistan was zero, today the Taliban control more than 60 per cent of the country — this is the presence of America and NATO in Afghanistan. What kind of presence is this, which does not solve the problem, but contributes to its growth? We do not need such leadership,” the Russian official stated.

Source: Agencies