Khalilzad: US Seeking Political Settlement, Not Withdrawal – Tolo News
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad says that the United States is seeking peace and political settlement in Afghanistan and that the withdrawal of foreign forces will be conditions-based.
Khalilzad is in Kabul for his sixth visit since last November and he has held five rounds of talks with the Taliban. In his last round of talks in Doha in mid-March, the US and the Taliban agreed in draft on counterterrorism assurances and US forces withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“We are seeking peace and a political settlement, not a withdrawal,” Khalilzad said in an interview with TOLO news on Sunday. “We want a peace which will provide the ground for withdrawal.”
He said that “it is not true that the withdrawal of the foreign forces from Afghanistan will happen ahead of a peace deal”.
“They (Taliban) are seeking a timeline (on US forces withdrawal) so that the US accepts a specific timeline for withdrawal and we say that we are ready to withdraw based on conditions,” Khalilzad explained.
He said that both the US’s presence and its withdrawal are depended on conditions. “If conditions are provided earlier, we will not insist on remaining in Afghanistan forever. This depends on conditions,” he stressed…