Russia says it is ready to mediate between Pakistan and Afghanistan

Alexander Venediktov, deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, announced in a meeting with Azad Sajjad Khan, deputy national security adviser to Pakistan's prime minister, that Russia is ready to help resolve the disputes between Pakistan and the Taliban.

Venediktov said that Russia wanted to see the situation on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border normalised and expressed hope that the two sides would return to the negotiating table and resolve their differences through political and diplomatic means, Afghanistan International reports.

Addressing the Pakistani official, he added that Russia was ready to provide comprehensive assistance to that process if Islamabad considered it appropriate.

The meeting took place on Wednesday, May 27, on the sidelines of the Moscow International Security Forum.

In another part of his remarks, Venediktov referred to the development of bilateral relations, adding that relations between Russia and Pakistan are developing dynamically in all areas.

Stressing that Pakistan is an important partner for Moscow in the region, he called for an increase in and strengthening of cooperation between the security councils of the two countries.

This is not the first time Russia has offered to mediate between Pakistan and the Taliban.

Moscow’s renewed offer comes as relations between Islamabad and the Taliban have sharply deteriorated in recent months because of border security disputes.

Pakistani officials have repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has carried out deadly attacks inside Pakistan.

The Taliban administration has denied the allegations and described Pakistan’s security problems as an internal matter.

Earlier, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed the Taliban regime was assisting Indian activities against Pakistan and said Islamabad would continue military operations against Afghan Taliban-linked threats.

Russia remains the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban administration. On Wednesday, the two sides also signed a military-technical cooperation agreement on the sidelines of the Moscow security forum.