Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov has said the next Moscow-format meeting will take place next month as Russia has seen no progress with regards to the Taliban establishing an inclusive government in Afghanistan.
Kabulov told TASS on Monday that the meeting will be held on September 29 in Kazan and that the Taliban has already confirmed their attendance.
The last Moscow format meeting was held in November last year. The format members – Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Iran, Pakistan, China, Turkmenistan, India, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – collectively stressed that order to obtain official recognition, the Taliban must improve the state management system and form “a truly inclusive government that adequately reflects the interests of all major ethnopolitical forces in the country.”
“This will be a fundamental prerequisite for the completion of the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan,” a statement issued after the meeting read.
But, Kabulov said this week: “So far, we see no progress [on this matter]. That is why we are going to meet. To continue our work.”
The Moscow format is a mechanism established in 2017 for the Afghanistan issue.
