Russia Sees No Military Solution To Afghanistan’s Problem

The Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan, Alexander Mantytskiy, has said that Afghanistan’s problem cannot be solved through military solutions. He said representatives of 12 regional countries will encourage the Afghan government and Taliban to hold face-to-face talks at an upcoming conference in Moscow.

“There are main points to discuss to work out a regional approach to the solution of the Afghan problem and to send a strong signal to the Taliban movement that there is no military solution for the Afghan problem,” the ambassador told TOLOnews on Friday. According to Mantytskiy, Taliban has not been invited to this upcoming meeting. “Regarding the invitation of the Taliban movement, no such type of invitation was given. It means that only representatives of the government will participate,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at an event this week that they would support an Afghan-owned peace process. “We also support and we are in favor of a reconciliation process, but it has to be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned. As long as it is an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process, we support the initiative to find a peaceful solution to Afghanistan,” Stoltenberg said. Meanwhile, a number of Afghan analysts commented on the reasons behind Russia’s interest in Afghanistan. “Competition of powerful countries in Afghanistan has turned the country into a battlefield that causes Afghan people to be killed every day,” said Farhad Majidi, a member of Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Parliament.

“As more countries get involved in the Afghanistan issue, it will get more complicated and it would not benefit Russia, but will increase instability in Afghanistan,” said Nasrullah Stanikzai, a lecturer at Kabul University. This comes after the Commander of the United States Central Command Gen. Josef Votel said at a session in the U.S Senate this week that Russia might provide support to the Taliban in order to be an influential party in Afghanistan.