Russia, Pakistan discuss Afghan peace process

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Moscow and Islamabad seem to have found an effective format for the inter-Afghan contacts.

At a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Mahmood Kureshi on Wednesday, Lavrov praised Pakistan's contribution to the Afghan peace process.

"With the joining of India and Pakistan to the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), the SCO-Afghanistan Contact group takes a new breath. This is a very promising format. We appreciate cooperation with Pakistan in the framework of these formats. It is very important for us to hear your assessment of the results of the tour in a number of countries where you discussed the Afghan problem, and which ends in Moscow," Lavrov said.

Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova greeted the U.S., Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Pakistan and Taliban contacts on Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi last week.

She also said U.S. intention to pull back the troops from Afghanistan is "a step in the right direction, capable to bring the peace process closer".

Since 2001 a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist political movement Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan in 1996-2001, wages a partisan war to restore its control over the country.

The international society tries to contribute to the inter-Afghan reconciliation by organising different formats between the government in Kabul and the Taliban movement.