US special envoy to attend Afghan peace talks in Moscow

Taliban and government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani have agreed to attend meeting in Russian capital on Thursday.

The United States’ special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation will attend a summit in Moscow later this week to advance the Afghan peace process, the US State Department said on Monday, as a May 1 deadline to withdraw US troops from the country approaches. Zalmay Khalilzad will attend the conference on Thursday, US State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters. The meeting will “complement all other international efforts to support the Afghanistan peace process and also reflects the international community’s concerns about progress to date”, Porter said.