WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department said on Monday that it is too early to say how Afghan peace talks are going, but the United States believes this is a moment when progress is possible, Reuters reported.
State Department spokesman Ned Price also told a regular news briefing that the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, would be based in Doha for some time.
“We have continued to encourage all sides to take part constructively and with a degree of alacrity, knowing that this is a moment in time where progress is possible,” Price said.
“We want to do everything we can to facilitate that progress, to support dialogue, the inter-Afghan dialogue between the various parties. That’s precisely why we’re there.”
Khalilzad, who has already met with Afghan leaders in Kabul and the Taliban in Qatar, arrived in Pakistan on Monday, along with Resolute Support Commander General Scott Miller.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, Khalilzad met with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Javed Bajwa in Rawalpindi and discussed issues of mutual interest, including the peace process and regional security.
Khalilzad, is currently on a regional trip to help push for a peace deal between the two warring parties and handed over Washington’s plan for the formation of a transitional government in Afghanistan to various stakeholders including Afghan government leaders and the Taliban. (ATN)