Editorial: What game is Russia playing in Afghanistan?

[TomSea]

What game is Russia playing in Afghanistan?
Arkady Dubnov

Earlier this month, the Russian government hosted a much-awaited peace conference on Afghanistan, which was attended by representatives from the Taliban. After the event, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was photographed posing next to members of the Taliban leadership, who, paradoxically, are still on Russia's terror list.

For keen observers of Russian foreign policy, it was clear that the conference was not more than a photo-op meant to publicly declare the Kremlin's ambition to re-assert itself in the southern part of Central Asia and Afghanistan in particular.

The Taliban also benefited from the conference: for the first time its representatives participated in a forum organised by a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Read more at: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/game-russia-playing-afghanistan-181113160715311.html