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MOSCOW: Russia will hold a series of trilateral talks on Afghanistan next month, its foreign ministry said Monday, as Moscow plans to establish a wider regional partnership on the issue.

Zamir Kabulov, director of the Second Asian Department, told RIA Novosti the next consultation on Afghanistan would take place between Russia, China and Pakistan.

"We are discussing this with the Chinese, the Iranians, Indians, Pakistanis. There is work on specifics… For example, we are planning the next Russian-Chinese-Pakistani consultations in December. They will be held in Moscow," said Kabulov.

The development comes amid a series of massive assaults in Afghanistan by the Taliban, the latest one on the German consulate in Mazar-eSharif, as the militant group refuses to surrender the Afghan government.

The Taliban said the bombing late Thursday, which tore a massive crater in the road and overturned cars, was a "revenge attack" for US air strikes this month in the volatile province of Kunduz that left 32 civilians dead.

The Quadrilateral Group, consisting of Pakistan, China, Afghanistan and the United States, had gained little success in brokering peace talks between Kabul and the militant group.

The peace talks, however, collapsed after a US drone strike killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in Balochistan in May this year. It wasn’t until September the Afghan government held secret peace talks with the militant group.

The Guardian had reported that a senior American diplomat was present in the meetings in Qatar, where the Islamist group has a diplomatic office. No Pakistani official took part in the latest talks, according to the Guardian, which cited Taliban sources.