Afghanistan Times
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AT Monitoring Desk
KABUL: Russia´s foreign minister arrived Tuesday in Pakistan for a two-day visit expected to focus on efforts to bring peace to neighboring Afghanistan, AP reported.
Sergey Lavrov’s visit comes as a May 1 deadline for U.S. troops to leave Afghanistan in line with a deal Washington signed a year ago with the Taliban seems increasingly unlikely.
The U.S. has accelerated efforts to get a peace deal for Afghanistan but is also seeking a three-to-six month extension on the troop withdrawal deadline amid repeated statements from President Joe Biden that America wants to end its longest war. That´s according to officials familiar with the talks who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.
The Taliban have warned against overstepping the deadline and threatened more attacks including an end to a moratorium on attacks against U.S. and NATO troops.
Afghanistan has seen a nationwide spike in bombings, targeted killings, and violence on the battlefield as peace negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government have stalled.
Lavrov heads a 13-member delegation that includes Moscow’s special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov. Russia has intensified efforts to interject itself as a key player in the peace push and last month, Moscow hosted Taliban and Afghan government officials for a one-day meeting.
Lavrov’s visit to Pakistan is the first by a Russian foreign minister in nine years. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a video statement Tuesday that the visit is indicative of a closer relationship between the two countries.
Russia’s top diplomat arrives from India. While in Pakistan, Lavrov will meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, who recently recovered from COVID-19, as well as Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.
“Pakistan and Russia are working together in the Afghan peace process,” Qureshi said in the video statement.
