Sergey Lavrov English news | Sergey Lavrov, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

The Taliban on Thursday said that "decent progress" was made by the group with Kabul government officials during peace talks held here with the aim to end the 18-year long war in Afghstan.The group, however, stated that there had been no breakthrough and that further talks would be needed, Al Jazeera reported, quoting a Taliban official who had attended the talks.The Taliban delegation, led by chief negotiator Mullah Baradar Akhund, met Afghan politicians, including senior regional leaders and candidates, planning to challenge President Ashraf Gh in this year's presidential election, as diplomatic efforts to end the Afghan war gather pace.In addition, the Taliban insisted that international forces must leave Afghstan for peace to be agreed."The Islamic Emirate wants peace but the first step is to remove obstacles to peace and end the occupation of Afghstan," Baradar was quoted as saying.The Taliban, overthrown by the US-backed forces weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks, refers to the country as the Islamic Emirate of Afghstan.Meanwhile, the meeting in Moscow was opened on Tuesday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that his country sees peace as the only possible scenario of settlement in Afghstan.Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Taliban delegates reiterated their position that no ceasefire could be possible while foreign forces remained inside Afghstan.Sher Mohammad Abbas Stkzai, Taliban's political chief, was quoted as saying that "no other option" was possible.Taliban officials have been talking to the US diplomats for months about the terms of withdrawal of more than 23,000 US and NATO coalition troops from Afghstan.They have also reached a draft agreement on some issues, but no new date for the next round of talks has been set and many obstacles remain.The Taliban's refusal to deal directly with Gh's government in Kabul, which the group dismisses as a "puppet" regime, remains one of the key issues.( With inputs from ANI )

Home

City

Latest News

Cricket

LT Premium

National

International

Maharashtra

Opinions

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Nagpur

Entertainment

Photos

Business

Technology

Sports

Lifestyle

Social Viral

Lokmat Games

Health

Ganeshotsav

Marathi Language Controversy

Maharashtra News

Mumbai Local

Weather Update

Mumbai Rains

Sergey LavrovFOLLOW

Sergey lavrov, Latest News

International :'Decent progress' but no breakthrough in talks at Moscow, says Taliban

The Taliban on Thursday said that "decent progress" was made by the group with Kabul government officials during peace talks held here with the aim to end the 18-year long war in Afghstan. ...