TEHRAN _ A few days after Moscow hosted landmark ‘peace talks’ on Afghanistan, a senior Russian diplomat said Moscow has offered to broker Afghan peace talks because the U.S. has failed in bringing peace to the war-ravaged country.

Russia's presidential envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said the Moscow conference on Afghanistan held on Friday that brought together representatives from the Afghan government, Taliban and many regional countries marked an attempt to “take a modest first step toward full-fledged peace talks.”

Kabulov said on Monday that Russia has sought to contribute to peace efforts because the continuing fighting in Afghanistan threatens the security interests of Russia and its allies in Central Asia.

He noted that the U.S. and its allies have failed to defeat the Taliban, saying that “the West has lost the war in Afghanistan”. Kabulov said the “the presence of the U.S. and NATO hasn't only failed to solve the problem but exacerbated it.”

With Friday’s talks, experts believe, Russia has seized the opportunity to be at the center stage of Afghan peace process, much to the chagrin of Washington.

Taliban had sent a high-level delegation to the talks, which ended without any sides agreeing on a path to direct dialogue, according to sources. Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, Taliban spokesman, told journalists that the conference was “not about direct talks” with the government in Kabul. He reiterated that the main demand of the group was “withdrawal of foreign forces” from Afghanistan.