MOSCOW. Dec 28 (Interfax) - Russia, China, and Pakistan do not plan to act as mediators between the conflicting parties in Afghanistan, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Wednesday.
"For us to act as a mediator, the conflicting parties are supposed to ask us about this. In this particular case it's Kabul and at least the Taliban. No such request has been made. Therefore, we are not going to mediate," Russian Foreign Ministry 2nd Asian Department Director and special presidential representative on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov told Interfax.
"We feel that we need to establish a broader regional format, certainly, together with the Afghanis, to develop new approaches that would produce a result, rather than just talk in various formats while the war keeps going on," he said.
Consultations in the Russia-China-Pakistan format are "only the first step," Kabulov said.
"In the foreseeable future, we will invite not only the Afghanis but also other stakeholders truly interested in a settlement. The matter concerns countries that are really suffering from the problem of Afghanistan," Kabulov said.
Tuesday's meeting in the said format has been the third this year, he said.
"We are building something that will really work. And this has been the third meeting in this format, and I don't understand why so much attention has been focused on it," he said.