President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin meets with President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai. Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Tom Hussain, South China Morning Post: Putin might be hoping for 'another Syria' in Afghanistan
A Russia-led initiative involving China and Pakistan that seeks a political settlement to Afghanistan’s civil war has the makings of a diplomatic alliance that could supplant the United States as the leading power in Central Asia.
The grouping was unveiled after a third meeting in Moscow late last month and may be expanded to include regional powers Iran and Turkey, which formed a separate tripartite grouping on Syria with Russia in talks preceding the parleys on Afghanistan.
The Afghan government reacted angrily to the Moscow meeting, to which it had not been invited, because the meeting proposed the relaxation of UN restrictions on the movement of key Taliban figures involved in pre-dialogue negotiations.
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WNU Editor: Afghanistan is not Syria .... and the Afghan regional players .... Pakistan and China .... are not like Syria's regional players Turkey and Iran. But Russia is positioning itself for the day when the U.S. leaves Afghanistan, and they (like everyone else in the region) do have a legitimate concern on what happens next when that day finally happens.
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