The Qatar-based political office of Afghanistan’s Taliban on Wednesday denied reports that a Taliban delegation is in Pakistan to discuss joining peace talks with the Afghan government (RFE/RL). Mohammad Naeem, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office, told Voice of America on Wednesday that the delegation traveled from Qatar to Karachi, Pakistan to discuss “close relations, long border, and commercial transactions” between Pakistan and the Taliban (VOA). Naeem reiterated that the issue of negotiations with the Afghan government is not on the agenda for the delegation.
This statement conflicts with remarks made to AFP by an unnamed Pakistan-based Afghan Taliban source who asserted on Wednesday that “a three-member Taliban negotiating team was in Karachi on April 25 and would soon begin initial contacts with Pakistani and Afghan officials" (Press TV). Part of the dialogue concerned “ways and means to bring peace to Afghanistan,” according to AFP’s Taliban source.
Russia interested in joining Afghan peace negotiations
Russia is interested in facilitating peace negotiations in Afghanistan alongside the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States, and China, however, not as a part of the QCG (NYT). On Wednesday, Zamir Kabulov, a Russian envoy to Afghanistan, was cited by Interfax news agency as saying that Russia considers the current format of talks inefficient. While Russia does not plan to join, according to Kabulov, Moscow is interested in creating a new format.
After talks between Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Karimov asserted Russia’s importance to Afghan peace talks (NYT). "Russia has and always had its vital interests in this region," he said after talks with Putin in Moscow. "We believe that attempts to resolve this (Afghan) issue without Russia are unreasoned and precipitous."