Russian ambassador discusses Afghanistan’s reconciliation & countering intl terrorism with US envoy

Russia’s Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov has met with US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, the embassy tweeted.

They stressed the importance of “coordination of our approaches on Afghanistan,” the statement said on Monday. Special attention was given to countering international terrorism, it added.

Representatives of Russia, the US and Afghanistan held online consultations on June 15. The Russian and US diplomats welcomed plans by the Afghan government to complete the process of releasing 5,000 Taliban members soon, TASS said.

The government in Kabul said on June 14 it had agreed with the Islamist Taliban group that Doha will be the venue for their peace talks. The negotiations, known as intra-Afghan dialogue, will be the first high-level meeting between the two sides after years of fighting.