Russia denies holding talks with Taliban in Qatar
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Russia's foreign ministry says its presidential envoy for Afghanistan is not holding talks with the Taliban in Qatar, as a senior Taliban official has claimed. A senior Taliban official told The Associated Press last week that Russian envoy Zamir Kabulov had met in the emirate with representatives of the Taliban to discuss the case of Pavel Petrenko, a Russian pilot seized by Taliban in April after his cargo helicopter made an emergency landing in Afghanistan.
A ministry statement on Wednesday said Kabulov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy, "is not holding any talks with the Taliban in Qatar." (AP)
