Russia Peace Talks

Senior members of the Taliban will attend talks with the Kabul government in Moscow this week to discuss the future of war-ravaged Afghanistan, the insurgent group said Monday.

Russia said on Friday that the Taliban should be included in any Afghan interim administration, ahead of a conference in Moscow aimed at supporting peace talks between the Islamist group and Afghanistan's government.

Russia is ready to be a guarantor of any peace deal for Afghanistan agreed between the United States and the Taliban, the Russian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

When members of the Taliban and Afghan politicians met Tuesday in the Russian capital for talks aimed at ending the war in their country, one face in particular stood out: Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban and the head of its political office, who spoke publicly for the first time about the need for a peace deal.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat today said if a number of countries were talking to the Taliban, and if India has an interest in Afghanistan, then "we should also join the bandwagon". He asserted, however, that the same analogy cannot apply to Jammu and Kashmir.

A Taliban delegation on Friday attended a diplomatic conference in Russia for the first time, in a move that underscored Moscow's keenness to play a role in the Afghan peace process, but the Kabul government sent no official representative.

For the first time, India will be talking to the Taliban but in a "non official" capacity during a multilateral meeting in Moscow on Friday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday Moscow had started delivering the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria and warned Western powers of trying to undermine UN-led efforts to end the seven-year conflict.

Russia said on Monday that international peace talks on Afghanistan have been postponed following a phone conversation between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani.

Afghanistan hopes Russia can press Taliban insurgents into holding peace talks with the government, Afghanistan's top security official said on Wednesday after he met Russia's ambassador in Kabul.

Syrian rebel negotiators began a new round of talks with Russian officers on Tuesday over a peace deal in southern Syria under which they would hand over weapons and allow Russian military police to enter rebel-held towns, a rebel spokesman said.

The EU on Wednesday urged Russia and Iran to pressure Damascus to engage in talks to end Syria's bloody civil war, as international donors pledged billions of dollars to help civilians caught up in the conflict.

China's President Xi Jinping offered encouragement for South Korea's initiative to nurture peaceful engagement with North Korea, and Russia also expressed support, the South Korean official leading diplomatic efforts said on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were agreed the time was right for a new round of peace talks on Ukraine.

Donald Trump's transition team has been invited to take part in Russian-backed peace talks on Syria, presenting a thorny first foreign policy dilemma for the new administration.

Senior members of the Taliban will attend talks with the Kabul government in Moscow this week to discuss the future of war-ravaged Afghanistan, the insurgent group said Monday.

Russia said on Friday that the Taliban should be included in any Afghan interim administration, ahead of a conference in Moscow aimed at supporting peace talks between the Islamist group and Afghanistan's government.

Russia is ready to be a guarantor of any peace deal for Afghanistan agreed between the United States and the Taliban, the Russian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

When members of the Taliban and Afghan politicians met Tuesday in the Russian capital for talks aimed at ending the war in their country, one face in particular stood out: Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban and the head of its political office, who spoke publicly for the first time about the need for a peace deal.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat today said if a number of countries were talking to the Taliban, and if India has an interest in Afghanistan, then "we should also join the bandwagon". He asserted, however, that the same analogy cannot apply to Jammu and Kashmir.

A Taliban delegation on Friday attended a diplomatic conference in Russia for the first time, in a move that underscored Moscow's keenness to play a role in the Afghan peace process, but the Kabul government sent no official representative.

For the first time, India will be talking to the Taliban but in a "non official" capacity during a multilateral meeting in Moscow on Friday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday Moscow had started delivering the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria and warned Western powers of trying to undermine UN-led efforts to end the seven-year conflict.

Russia said on Monday that international peace talks on Afghanistan have been postponed following a phone conversation between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani.

Afghanistan hopes Russia can press Taliban insurgents into holding peace talks with the government, Afghanistan's top security official said on Wednesday after he met Russia's ambassador in Kabul.

Syrian rebel negotiators began a new round of talks with Russian officers on Tuesday over a peace deal in southern Syria under which they would hand over weapons and allow Russian military police to enter rebel-held towns, a rebel spokesman said.

The EU on Wednesday urged Russia and Iran to pressure Damascus to engage in talks to end Syria's bloody civil war, as international donors pledged billions of dollars to help civilians caught up in the conflict.

China's President Xi Jinping offered encouragement for South Korea's initiative to nurture peaceful engagement with North Korea, and Russia also expressed support, the South Korean official leading diplomatic efforts said on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were agreed the time was right for a new round of peace talks on Ukraine.

Donald Trump's transition team has been invited to take part in Russian-backed peace talks on Syria, presenting a thorny first foreign policy dilemma for the new administration.