Khalilzad leaves for Turkey ahead of Istanbul Summit

KABUL (Pajhwok): Days ahead of the Istanbul Summit, the Biden administration’s point man on Afghanistan has left for Turkey.

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Khalilzad began the trip on Thursday in an effort to encouraging the two warring sides to speed up peace negotiations

In a statement on Saturday, the US State Department said: “He will engage the two sides on their preparatory efforts for talks on a political settlement that produces a permanent ceasefire and a durable and just peace.”

The diplomat would also meet stakeholders to discuss how the region and the international community could facilitate talks between the warring sides.

Supported by the US, the summit on the Afghan peace process is penciled in for next month for Istanbul. Besides Afghan government and Taliban delegations, representatives from the UN, US, Russia, China and other countries will attend the event.

The Taliban have warned of resuming attacks on foreign forces if they stayed in Afghanistan beyond the May 1 deadline, envisaged in their last year’s agreement with the Trump administration.

On Thursday, the US president suggested it would be hard for his administration to meet the troop withdrawal deadline.

PAN Monitor/mud

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