US envoy meets Afghan president to discuss agreement reached by US, Taliban

U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad on Sunday met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss the agreement reached by the United States and the Taliban during their latest round of talks, according to the Afghan president’s spokesperson on Monday.

In a press briefing in Kabul on Monday, presidential spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi confirmed that Khalilzad arrived in the Afghan capital the previous day and shared the key details of the deal which was reached following the latest round of talks between the U.S. and the Taliban in Qatar.

Sediqqi said the Afghan government would carefully look into the deal and formulate a way forward to achieving peace.

“So there was a very good discussion and the Afghan government – now having all the details of this agreement – we will study this, we will look into it and we will try to see and formulate our observation based on the national interests of our country. But for us, a meaningful peace or a path to a meaningful peace is the end of violence and a direct negotiation with the Taliban,” said the spokesperson.

The ninth round of talks between the U.S. and Taliban ended over the weekend, with a draft agreement reached in principle but still needing the approval of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Khalilzad said in an interview that the U.S. has agreed to withdraw 5,000 troops from five bases in Afghanistan within 135 days, so long as the Taliban fulfills its relevant commitments set out in the draft.

According to media reports, in addition to proposals for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, the draft also contains a commitment from the Taliban that it will not useAfghanistan to launch terrorist attacks against the United States and other countries.