Russia regrets cancellation of Doha meeting

KABUL (Pajhwok): Moscow has regretted the cancellation of an intra-Afghan meeting in Doha, which was slated for April 19-21.

On the eve of the conference, the Afghan government said the meeting was canceled due to disagreements on the list of a 250-member delegation.

On Monday, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said: “We regret this decision of the organisers because this intra-Afghan format has proved to be the most promising communications channel between various political forces in Afghanistan…”

Maria Zakharova recalled the first intra-Afghan dialogue in Moscow on February 5-6 was “quite successful”. During the meeting, Afghan politicians and Taliban representatives initiated dialogue about the future shape of Afghanistan.

The cancellation of the Doha meeting could spell have bad consequences for the large-scale intra-Afghan peace process, Zakharova warned.

“We consider the reason for the disruption of the Doha meeting to be the unconstructive position of the current leaders of Afghanistan,” the spokesperson added.

Kabul sent a delegation to Qatar that did not fit in the format of the event and caused discontent among many participants, including the Taliban, she remarked.

“We hope that Afghans will eventually manage to resolve the difficulties themselves and return to the dialogue that may prove to be seminal for their country,” she concluded.

PAN Monitor/mud