MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th November, 2019) US President Donald Trump said on Thursday during a meeting with his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, that he had restarted peace negotiations with the Afghan radical movement Taliban, according to the White House pool.
The US president, who is paying a surprise visit to Afghanistan, said he believed the Taliban wanted a ceasefire.
"The Taliban wants to make a deal and we're meeting with them and we're saying it has to be a ceasefire and they didn't want to do a ceasefire and now they do want to do a ceasefire. I believe it'll probably work out that way," Trump told Ghani.
Trump also confirmed during the meeting with Ghani that he would like to reduce the number of US troops in the country to 8,600. There are currently less than 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan, but the exact number is undisclosed.
"We've made tremendous progress and at the same time we've been drawing down our troops," he said.
The Afghan president thanked US troops for making "ultimate sacrifice" in the country, and noted that casualties among them during Trump's presidency were on decline.
"Afghan security forces are taking the lead now," he said.
The pool was barred from reporting on the trip in advance for security reasons.
