Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/18/russia-us-call-on-afghans-to-discuss-ceasefire-after-talks
Last Thursday an international peace conference was held in Moscow, Russia. The regional power is hosting a peace conference for Afghanistan, an effort to bring government representatives and Taliban leaders together to jump start the deteriorating peace process. The one day gathering is the first of three before May first, the deadline for U.S. and NATO troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, a part of an agreement the past U.S. administration brokered with the Taliban.
The U.S. joined China and Pakistan, at the conference hosted by Russia. Moscow has held talks among the Afghanistan powers and regional actors since 2017, however, this is the first meeting the U.S. has attended. Which conveys Washington’s commitment to wining the support of regional powers for its plans regarding the future of Afghanistan, a future without active U.S. involvement for the first time in 20 years.
Zalmay Khalizad, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, attended the conference to discuss the May first deadline, which President Joe Biden must decide to uphold or overturn very soon, and to obtain support for a proposed interim government. The U.S. has proposed an interim government be established as the political balance in Afghanistan shifts. However, the Afghanistan president has expressed strong opposition to the proposal, and the Taliban leaders claim the group will not join it, but they do support replacing the current Afghanistan administration.
The Russian foreign minister, Lavrov, is urging both the Taliban and the Afghanistan government officials to be open minded and willing to make compromises. He also has called on international participants to take any steps necessary to facilitate the peace deal, displaying a sense of urgency as summer approaches. The conference participants are seeking to reach a peace deal quickly amid the hostile military-political environment and before violence surges during warmer months.
Last Thursday on Twitter, the Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation wrote that the state negotiations team is ready to discuss any topic with the Taliban. Additionally, he called for the end of target killings and a strong ceasefire before the next round of talks begin.
While the international support of the peace deal is promising, the two groups have been disputing for many years and are usually unable to reach compromise. Additionally, if a peace deal is reached, it could be easily unraveled by either discontent group.