U.S, Russia in Joint Push for Afghan Power-Sharing Despite Spat

(Bloomberg) -- Russia and the U.S. are working together to persuade the Afghan government to share power with the Taliban even amid a furious response in Moscow after President Joe Biden said he agreed his Kremlin counterpart Vladimir Putin is a “killer.”

U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, is attending talks in Moscow on Thursday hosted by Russia that include representatives of the warring Afghan sides as well as regional powers, in a rare example of collaboration between the former Cold War adversaries.

The Biden administration has signaled to President Ashraf Ghani it’s considering going ahead with a planned pull-out of all U.S. troops by May 1 as it leans on Kabul to accelerate peace talks with the Islamist group, including by agreeing to Turkish-hosted talks with the Taliban and a United Nations-led six-nation meeting aimed at advancing a settlement.

Despite increasing tensions between Moscow and Washington, Russia has publicly backed the U.S. proposal for an interim government of national unity bringing together the Taliban and Afghan leaders. The Kremlin has courted ties with the Taliban in recent years as the central government’s control of territory has gradually weakened.

Escalating Fighting

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the U.S. and the Taliban to stick to a peace deal signed in February last year that was to pave the way for the exit of all American forces in 14 months. He warned of the danger of escalating fighting in Afghanistan in opening remarks to the participants.

Ghani has reacted coolly to the U.S. power-sharing initiative, insisting last week that elections should be the only way to form a new government.

“The Biden administration will go all-in on this. Expect it to try to build a large consensus both in Afghanistan and overseas that pressures Ghani to accept the power-sharing idea,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia program at the Wilson Center research group in Washington. “Washington may even threaten to withhold some future financial aid.”

When former President Donald Trump handed over the White House to Biden in January, he had reduced the U.S. troop presence to 2,500, the lowest number since the 2001 invasion that toppled the ruling Taliban. He stated that he hoped all troops would exit the country by May as agreed with the group.

Biden said it will be “tough” to meet the May 1 deadline in an interview with ABC News that aired Wednesday. If the timeline is extended, he added, it won’t be by “a lot longer.” In the same interview, the U.S. president agreed with ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanophoulos that Putin is a killer. Russia recalled its ambassador in Washington for consultations and demanded an apology from Biden.

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