MOSCOW. Oct 17 (Interfax) - Moscow feels skeptical about the possibility of reanimating intra-Afghan negotiations in the quadripartite format (Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States, and China), the Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Director of the Foreign Ministry's Second Asia Department, Zamir Kabulov, said on Tuesday.
A quadripartite meeting was held in Oman on Monday in order to resume dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban, the media said.
"I have seen a Pakistani comment on the subject, it said no progress was made at the meeting. That was to be expected," Kabulov told Interfax.
"Before the meeting in Oman, representatives of the Taliban movement said they had no knowledge of it and had nothing to do with the meeting, although the meeting addressed ways of beginning a dialogue between the Taliban and the Afghan government. If the Taliban says it has nothing to do with this format and does not want it, this is final," he said.
"Given those circumstances, it is hard to expect the Taliban to start negotiations after the U.S. pledged in its new strategy to attack and kill Taliban members," Kabulov said.
"We wish them [the quadripartite format] luck, but we have not concealed in our conversations with partners, the actual partners, that we do not expect any breakthrough from such get-togethers. If the United States changes its attitude, it will be immaterial whether the meeting is held in the quadripartite or Moscow format. Things will be set in motion in that case," Kabulov said.
As for what Afghan settlement format would be preferable to Russia, Kabulov said, "The Moscow format. We have said so many times," he said.
Moscow has hosted Afghan settlement negotiations in other formats engaging regional countries before. For instance, the first consultations on Afghanistan involving Russia, China, and Pakistan were held in Moscow in late 2016.