Taliban says not ready for direct talks with Kabul

The Taliban are not ready for direct talks with the Kabul government and will negotiate with the United States instead, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanakzai, head of the Taliban delegation, as saying on Friday.

A Taliban delegation on Friday attended a diplomatic conference in Russia for the first time, but the Kabul government sent no official representative, and the sides reported no progress.