MOSCOW, March 9 (Reuters) – The Russian Foreign Minister is planning to hold a conference in Moscow on March 18 devoted to Afghanistan, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday without giving details of the identity of the participants. that the United States has not confirmed that it will take part in this conference.
A draft peace plan for Afghanistan prepared by the United States, which Reuters was able to consult on Monday, recommends replacing the current government with a transitional administration pending the adoption of a new constitution and the holding of elections, with a cease-fire placed under the responsibility of a joint commission.
On Saturday, Zalmay Khalilzad, the American envoy for Afghanistan, suggested to the belligerents to relaunch the peace process but his proposal was immediately rejected by Kabul and by the Taliban, we learned from diplomatic and government sources.
Some 9,600 NATO soldiers, including 2,500 Americans, are still deployed in Afghanistan as part of a training and supervision mission for local security forces.
Moscow has in the past prn the establishment of a power sharing in Afghanistan during a period of transition within the framework of a peace agreement. Russian special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said last month Russia was prepared to hold inter-Afghan talks to break the current stalemate between Kabul and the Taliban.
A spokesman for the US State Department said the United States and Russia had recently discussed the scheduling of a meeting, but Washington had “nothing to confirm yet.” (Maxim Rodionov Moscow and Jonathan Landay Washington; French version Marc Angrand and Jean Terzian)
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