US acknowledges significant progress in talks with Taliban

The United States has made significant progress in its peace talks with the Taliban, a top Trump Administration envoy entrusted with the dialogue has said.

However, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, cautioned that nothing has been finalized yet.

Afghanistan-born Khalilzad said this in a series of tweets after six days of talks with the Taliban representatives in Doha. He now heads to Kabul for consultations with the elected Afghan government.

“After six days in Doha, I’m headed to Afghanistan for consultations. Meetings here were more productive than they have been in the past. We made significant progress on vital issues,” he said.

“Will build on the momentum and resume talks shortly. We have a number of issues left to work out. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and “everything” must include an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive ceasefire,” Khalilzad said.

The top American diplomat thanked the Government of Qatar for their constructive engagement and their facilitation of this round of talks.