Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, center, arrives with other members of the Taliban delegation for an international peace conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 18, 2021.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)MOSCOW โ Russia hosted a peace conference for Afghanistan on Thursday, bringing together government representatives, the Taliban and international observers in a bid to help jump-start the country's stalled peace process.
Moscowโs attempt at mediation comes as talks in Qatar between the Afghan government and the Taliban, still waging an insurgency, have stalled.
Washington and Kabul have been pressing for a cease-fire while the Taliban say they will negotiate it as part of peace talks with the Afghan government.
Zamir Kabulov, Russian President Vladimir Putinโs special envoy for Afghanistan, told reporters that the Afghan participants in the talks showed willingness to negotiate peace.