Russia, China and Pakistan have called for an early resumption of talks between the United States to the war in Afghanistan.
The call came as Moscow hosted on Friday US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, along with Chinese and Pakistani representatives on Afghan peace.
“Russia, China and Pakistan expressed their support for the earliest resumption of negotiation process and reaching an agreement between the United States of America and the Taliban movement, which will pave the way for launching intra-Afghan talks,” a statement issued following the meeting said.
The participants urged all sides to observe a cease-fire for the duration of intra-Afghan negotiations, and called on the Afghan government and the Taliban to release “significant numbers of prisoners at the start of intra-Afghan negotiations.”
Pakistan’s representative in the meeting, Muhemmed Aejaz, said on Twitter that the four sides “are hopeful about and agreed to expedite the earliest peaceful resolution of the issue through an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process.”
US envoy Khalilzad held peace talks with Taliban representatives for a year before they were halted by US President Donald Trump last month, citing a deadly attack in Kabul.
