NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press briefing in London on Wednesday said: “We believe that we need a political negotiated solution in Afghanistan.”
“We are committed to continue to support Afghanistan because we strongly believe that the best way NATO can support peace efforts is to train, assist and advise the Afghan security forces so that Taliban understand that they will never win on the battlefield,” Stoltenberg said.
NATO “welcomed efforts to restart the Afghan peace talks, he said, adding that “NATO supported the talks because we believe that we need a political negotiated solution in Afghanistan.”
This comes as the US State Department on Wednesday said that Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad “will rejoin the talks with the Taliban in Doha to discuss steps that could lead to intra-Afghan negotiations and a peaceful settlement to the ongoing conflict in the country.”
The statement read: “In Kabul, Special Representative Khalilzad will meet with Afghan government representatives and other Afghan leaders to follow up on President Trump’s recent visit and to discuss how best to support accelerated efforts to get all parties to intra-Afghan negotiations.”
“In Doha, Ambassador Khalilzad will rejoin talks with the Taliban to discuss steps that could lead to intra-Afghan negotiations and a peaceful settlement of the war, specifically a reduction in violence that leads to a ceasefire,” it said.
Khalilzad met with the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday and the two sides exchanged views related to the peace process, including “the prospect for a ceasefire as a result of a peace agreement and the issue of Taliban’s sanctuaries outside Afghanistan,” the Palace tweeted.
Khalilzad also met with CEO Abdullah Abdullah and other politicians and they discussed the peace process and reduction of violence by the Taliban, before the start of talks between the US and Taliban, said Abdullah’s office.
