July 6, 2019

On May 27, a delegation of Afghan politicians, led by former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, and representatives of the Taliban’s Qatar office congregated in Moscow to celebrate 100 years of Russia-Afghanistan diplomatic relations. After a series of discussions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the swift withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and called for the intensification of intra-Afghan dialogue in pursuit of peace.

Although this summit reaffirmed Russia’s desire to play an influential role in the resolution of the war in Afghanistan, the event sparked controversy in Kabul as no representatives of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government were present in the audience. The absence of Ghani’s representatives at the talks was unsurprising to close followers of Russian policy in Afghanistan, as Moscow’s relationship with the internationally recognized Afghan government has worsened in recent months. This deterioration was caused by Ghani’s frustration with Russia’s bypassing of the Afghan government in peace negotiations and Moscow’s increased openness to the Taliban playing a major role in shaping Afghanistan’s political future.

Since Russia hosted its first major diplomatic summit on Afghanistan in December 2016, Ghani-aligned officials have expressed discontent with Moscow’s willingness to sidestep the Afghan government. On December 26, 2016, Afghan officials described Russia’s decision to host representatives of China and Pakistan for a discussion of the Afghanistan conflict in Moscow without Afghan government representation as “illegitimate and dubious,” and openly warned Russia against meddling in Afghanistan’s internal affairs. In response to these criticisms, Russian officials invited Afghan government representatives to the six-party talks hosted in Moscow in February 2017, and argued that any intra-Afghan peace process must accept the leading role of Kabul. This summit saw Russia embrace a balancing strategy between Ghani’s government and the Taliban, to bolster its influence over the conflict resolution process.

Read more:

https://thediplomat.com/2019/06/russias-falling-out-with-kabul/