Russian media reports say a ministerial meeting on Afghanistan will take place in Uzbekistan in March.
“A Moscow format meeting on Afghanistan is not yet planned,” Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan, Director of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov told TASS on February 3 replying to a question on the matter.
According to him, a ministerial meeting on Afghanistan will take place in Uzbekistan in March and special envoys will meet on the eve of this meeting.
“Uzbekistan wants to host a ministerial meeting of countries neighboring Afghanistan plus Russia in March. But there are no dates yet. The special envoys [for Afghanistan] will meet on the eve of this meeting,” Kabulov said.
Russia hosted the Moscow Forum meeting on Afghanistan twice over the past year and a half. The participants mainly stressed the formation of inclusive government, national dialogue and the ensuring of human rights.
Recall, a fourth round of multilateral consultations on Afghanistan between top security officials was held in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, on May 27, 2022.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s TOLOnews reported on February 5 that Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid called on Moscow to invite a representative of the Afghanistan’s caretaker government.
“The Islamic Emirate has not yet been invited but those meetings that discuss Afghanistan, Afghanistan should be included to defend its position and discuss the issues,” he was quoted as saying.
The Islamic Emirate reportedly said that the participants are expected to discuss the recognition of Afghanistan.
