Russia will host a multilateral meeting scheduled for November 16 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

Special Afghan envoys from China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are expected to attend the gathering of what is known as the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan.

Russian officials have confirmed that there will be no participation by Afghanistan's Islamist Taliban government at the talks, even though it took part in the last session of the Moscow format meeting held in October 2021.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his government would conduct a detailed briefing for both the Taliban and other Afghan political forces following the planned huddle in the Russian capital. He was referring to former Afghan government officials and political figures who fled the country after the Taliban takeover for fear reprisals.
 

The Taliban foreign ministry has dismissed Russia-hosted talks as "incomplete" without its representation at the meeting.

"Fortunately, Afghanistan now has an independent, accountable & legitimate government that has managed to establish effective security, safeguarded borders & engaged positively with neighboring, regional & world countries in political, economic & security matters," said a ministry statement posted online last week.(20221100)