The two-day Geneva International Conference on Afghanistan begins online today in Switzerland, which will take place online co-hosted by the Governments of Afghanistan and Finland together with the United Nations. “Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov is expected to take part in the plenary session on November 24,” the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry announced.
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at the briefing that Russia regards this event as timely. “It will give the international community an opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to developing and rebuilding Afghanistan amid efforts by the IRA government and the Taliban to launch full-scale intra-Afghan peace talks,” the Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman underlined.
The diplomat added there are plans to adopt a joint statement following the conference.
In addition, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif will also take part in the Geneva Conference to form a solid foundation for the peace process in Afghanistan.
US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale will lead the US delegation to the Geneva International Conference on Afghanistan. This was announced by the press service of the State Department. This year the conference is expected to bring together 66 countries as well as 32 international organisations.
It is worth to note that the Turkmen side is actively cooperating with regional and international agencies to promote peace, stability and socio-economic growth in Afghanistan.
Realizing the importance of such spheres of the economy as energy, transport, and communications for the comprehensive development of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan is actively working to promote a number of large international infrastructure projects that currently being implemented with the participation of two neighboring countries and the states of South Asia.
First of all, it is construction of the TAPI gas pipeline, power transmission lines and fiber-optic communication along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan route, and the construction of railways from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan has repeatedly reaffirmed its readiness to provide political space for future rounds of intra-Afghan talks.