President Ashraf Ghani and US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi have discussed the peace process in Afghanistan.
Ghani and Plosi also conferred on the Afghan-Afghan relations via a video conference on Monday night, the Presidential Palace said on Tuesday.
The video conference was also attended by First Lady Rula Ghani, Vice-President Amrullah Saleh, Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar, National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib, and Chief of Staff Dr. Fazal Mahmood Fazli.
Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Roya Rahmani was also connected via the video conference, a statement from Ghani’s office said.
Both sides expressed concerns over the escalation in violence across Afghanistan despite holding peace negotiations in Doha.
The United States’ continued commitment to Afghanistan, the peace process and next steps came up for discussion.
The protection of women’s rights and a ceasefire agreement were underlined during the video conference.
However, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Peace Process Zalmay Khalilzad has called for resumption of the intra-Afghan talks on January 5.
On his twitter handler, the US envoy said: “Given how much is at stake, it is imperative that there is no delay in resumption of talks and they must resume on Jan 5 as agreed.”
He said: “Tragically, the war continues. The need for a political settlement, reduction in violence, and a ceasefire remain urgent.”
Earlier, the Afghan and Taliban negotiating teams had said that talks on agenda related items would be resumed on January 5.
Khalilzad said: “The two Afghan negotiating teams announced in Doha they will take 20 days off to “consult on the agenda items.”
