WASHINGTON: US State Department has said that the United States won’t attend a multinational peace conference on Afghanistan being held in Russia next month.
A State Department official explained the reason saying that the US wasn’t consulted before receiving the invitation and doesn’t know Russia’s objectives for the gathering.
He further added that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would bring up the matter when he visits Russia in April.
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, India and several Central Asian nations are among the invitees to the Moscow conference.
The official said the US wants nations in the region, which have a shared interest in peace in Afghanistan, to increase pressure on the Taliban to negotiate with the Afghan government.
In Washington on Tuesday, Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani called for the US to add to the 8,400 troops currently in Afghanistan where the Taliban have stepped up attacks and the Islamic State group also poses a threat.
He said the Afghan government remains open to peace talks but doubted the Taliban would participate unless Pakistan cracked down on “terrorist safe havens” on its soil a long-running source of bitterness between the neighbouring countries.
