Current Affairs - International - Discussion

Russia has quietly invited a group of senior Afghan politicians to talk with the Taliban in Moscow. This talk has bypassed President Ashraf Ghani's government and has angered officials in Kabul who say it could muddle the U.S.-backed peace process. The Afghan officials also said that the government was unhappy that Moscow was pressing ahead with plans for talks. In August, Russia proposed to hold multilateral peace talks in Moscow and invited 12 countries and the Taliban to attend a summit the following month. But President Ashraf Ghani rejected the invitation on the grounds that talks with the Taliban should be led by the Afghan government and hence the meeting was postponed. The U.S. had also declined to attend.