Russian FM headed to Pakistan; Afghan talks likely on agenda

Russia's foreign minister is to arrive Tuesday in Pakistan for a two-day visit expected to focus on efforts to bring peace to neighbouring Afghanistan.

Sergey Lavrov's visit comes as a May 1 deadline for US troops to leave Afghanistan in line with a deal Washington signed a year ago with the Taliban seems increasingly unlikely.

The US has accelerated efforts to get a peace deal for Afghanistan but is also seeking a three-to-six month extension on the troop withdrawal deadline amid repeated statements from President Joe Biden that America wants to end its longest war. That's according to officials familiar with the talks who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

Afghanistan has seen a nationwide spike in bombings, targeted killings, and violence on the battlefield as peace negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government have stalled.

Lavrov heads a 13-member delegation that includes Moscow's special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov. Russia has intensified efforts to interject itself as a key player in the peace push and last month, Moscow hosted Taliban and Afghan government officials for a one-day meeting.

Following a 10-year occupation and thousands of soldiers who died in Afghanistan, the Soviets negotiated their exit from Afghanistan in February 1989, after so-called proximity talks between Afghanistan's communist government and the U.S.-backed mujahedeen, many of whom are now in the Taliban while others are warlords linked to the Kabul government.

Three years later the pro-Moscow government led by President Najibullah, who used only one name, fell to the mujahedeen.

Lavrov's visit to Pakistan is the first by a Russian foreign minister in nine years. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a video statement Tuesday that the visit is indicative of a closer relationship between the two countries.

Russia's top diplomat arrives from India. While in Pakistan, Lavrov will meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, who recently recovered from COVID-19, as well as Pakistan's powerful army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.

"Pakistan and Russia are working together in the Afghan peace process," Qureshi said in the video statement.