KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2020) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met with US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, and the parties discussed the future of the peace process and the start of negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban, Afghan president's spokesman Sediq Seddiqi said on Friday.
"President Ghani met with Mr. Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Envoy for Afghan Peace this evening in Arg. Both sides talked about the future steps in the peace process and start of the negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban," Seddiqi said on Twitter.
On Saturday, the United States and the Taliban signed a long-awaited peace deal in Qatar that sets the beginning of talks for March 10, provided that up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners are released from jail by that time in exchange for 1,000 prisoners released by the radical movement. However, Ghani said shortly after that Kabul never committed to releasing this many prisoners as a precondition for the talks, but rather as a part of them.
In parallel, the US and the Afghan government released a joint statement, which stated that the US would reduce the number of its troops in Afghanistan and that the complete withdrawal of the US and NATO troops from the country would be completed in 14 months.
Moscow welcomed the agreement, but drew attention to the fact that the US, which has been accusing Russia of contacts with the Taliban and violating international law for many years, eventually concluded an agreement with the radical movement.
