As the talks are ongoing between the US and the Taliban in Qatar, the White House National Security Advisor John Bolton has told CNN that the Trump administration has “no blind trust in the Taliban”.
“I can tell you that senior national security officials have been discussing this issue and how to try to bring it about, how to support the diplomacy but follow our counter-terrorism objectives continuously we will be doing some more of it this week, it is a very important point, we putting a lot of energy in it but there is no blind trust in the Taliban in this administration, that is for sure,” Bolton said.
This comes while, the US negotiators and the Taliban members have reached to agreements on the modality of foreign forces withdrawal from Afghanistan and the guarantee that Afghanistan’s territory is not used as a threat against other countries, Taliban sources familiar with the talks said.
In the past two days, the two sides have worked on the details of these agreements and there is a possibility that the negotiations will extend, the sources added.
But, the Presidential Palace said the final agreement on any topic relevant to peace will be determined by the Afghan government.
“Whatever is agreed, it is agreed only between the Afghan government and the Taliban and then the document becomes implementable,” said President Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri.
The fifth round of Qatar talks entered their third day on Monday after they were suspended for two days aimed at “extensive” discussions and consultations on issues relevant to the negotiations.
The two sides are reportedly bargaining on the nature of foreign forces withdrawal and the assurance by the Taliban that threat will not be staged from Afghanistan’s soil against a foreign nation.
