Afghan President Meets With US Officials To Be Briefed On US-Taliban Talks - Spokesman

KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2020) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has received top US and NATO representatives in Kabul and was debriefed about ongoing peace negotiations with the Taliban, presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on Twitter Sunday.

"Yesterday President Ghani met with Ross Wilson, Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Afghanistan, and General Scott Miller, Commander of the NATO Resolute Support mission. At the meeting, General Scott Miller briefed President Ghani on his trip to Qatar last week," Sediqqi said in a tweet that was accompanied by a photograph of the meeting.

According to Sediqqi, Miller also informed the president of a possible upcoming visit from US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad in the event of progress in negotiations with the Taliban.

"General Miller said that talks between Zalmai Khalilzad, the Special Representative of the US State Department and the Taliban are ongoing and in the event of any progress, Khalilzad will travel to Kabul and present his information to the Afghan government," Sediqqi tweeted.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen earlier this week said that Khalilzad and Miller held talks with senior Taliban officials in Doha, Qatar, where the movement maintains a political office.

Last week, Shaheen told Pakistani newspaper Dawn that the US was set to sign a peace deal with the Taliban in January. He also said that the sides had already agreed to reduce "military operations."

Since 2018, Washington and the Taliban have been attempting to negotiate a peace deal that would ensure the withdrawal of foreign troops in exchange for the movement's guarantee that the country would not become a safe haven for terrorists.

Last September, US President Donald Trump called off the talks with the group after a US service member was killed in an attack in Afghanistan. However, the president announced the resumption of the negotiations in late November during his visit to the Asian country.