Russia Hosts Feuding Afghan Factions for Talks

The Taliban and other Afghan factions have wrapped another round of talks in Moscow to discuss peace settlement. The negotiations followed a previous round of consultations in February. Russia has sought to play power broker in Afghanistan, attempting to mediate between warring factions as it jockeys with Washington for influence in a country where a U.S.-led coalition has been fighting for more than 17 years. Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Doha, said Thursday that the Moscow talks focused on the ceasefire, adding that “we made some progress, spectacular progress, on some issues.” Zamir Kabulov, President Vladimir Putin's envoy for Afghanistan, said that he met with the Taliban to discuss “ways to help speed up the process of national reconciliation in Afghanistan.”