Moscow, The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that post-conflict reconstruction and humanitarian assistance will be high on the agenda of the multilateral talks on Afghanistan in Moscow next week.

 

During her weekly briefing, the ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova noted the challenges facing the region, including terrorist activities and a "catastrophic humanitarian situation," which have affected all walks of life there, the Xinhua news agency reported.

She said that the human rights issue may be covered at the meeting, but it would not be a priority.

Russia has invited Taliban representatives to the meeting slated for Oct. 20. The Moscow-format consultations on Afghanistan were launched in 2017 on the basis of the six-party mechanism for consultations among representatives from Russia, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Iran and India.

The first round of the consultations took place on April 14, 2017 and were attended by deputy foreign ministers and representatives of 11 countries, namely Russia, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Iran, India, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.