Islamabad: Representatives of Russia, China, the United States and Pakistan agreed Friday that negotiation is the only road to peace in Afghanistan, including an early resumption of direct US talks with the Taliban.
The day-long talks in Moscow came ahead of an intra-Afghan dialogue to be hosted by China. The Beijing talks, which are to be held next week, were postponed, according to officials familiar with the talks. Speaking on condition they not be identified because of they were not authorized to talk about the subject, they said the postponement would be brief but no new date was given.
Earlier on Friday, a government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, had said Ghani was opposed to participation in the talks. It wasn’t clear what changed Ghani’s mind or whether he had requested a postponement, but a number of prominent Afghans from Kabul are expected to attend the China meeting, including former President Hamid Karzai, who has been a strong proponent of direct talks with the Taliban.
