Moscow, Nov 9 (IANS) Russia's Foreign Minister on Friday said his country would do everything possible to bring peace to Afghanistan to help start a new chapter in the war-torn South Asian nation.
Sergey Lavrov was speaking in Moscow at the opening of the second round of consultations on Afghanistan, a country plagued by conflict over decades.
"Russia supports the preservation of a united and indivisible Afghanistan in which all ethnic groups populating the country could live peacefully and happily," Lavrov said, according to Russia's state-owned TASS news agency.
The Moscow talks feature representatives of the Taliban and the Afghan government as well as other countries from the region.
The initiative is expected to facilitate direct talks between the insurgents and the government in Kabul.
"I have no doubts that the other participants of the Moscow format share this approach and that we all go by basic national interests of the Afghan people," Lavrov said.
He noted that the participation of five Taliban representatives and the non-official delegation from Afghanistan High Peace Council were important steps towards achieving peace in the country even though Kabul refused to be directly involved in the talks.
No major developments are expected during the talks but the coming together of the two warring parties can be considered significant progress.
Lavrov hoped the closed-door consultations, which are not expected to result in the signing of any formal document, would help start a process of national reconciliation.
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