US Presidential Administration Donald Trump plans to announce a deal to “reduce violence” with the Taliban Afghan movement this week, CNN reports citing two US military officials familiar with the discussions.
The alleged deal is described as a “declaration of violence reduction,” which will require a ceasefire between the coalition and the Taliban and give hope for a peace agreement in the near future.
The channel’s interlocutors said that there are some doubts about the feasibility of this plan, since the Taliban’s negotiators cannot guarantee that fighters across Afghanistan will abide by the terms of the agreement.
US officials are also concerned that an ISIS affiliate (ISIS, a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) in Afghanistan will take advantage of this agreement and will urge the young Taliban to join the fight against the United States.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani tweeted Tuesday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had informed him of “notable progress in ongoing peace talks with the Taliban.”
“The Secretary of State informed me of the Taliban’s proposal for a substantial and sustainable reduction in violence,” Ghani said, calling it a “welcome experience.”
The Taliban have repeatedly stated that they are ready to begin inter-Afghan peace talks only after signing the agreement on the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Direct negotiations between the US and the Taliban began in 2018. So far, the negotiation process has been virtually ineffectual, and in September last year, Trump even declared that negotiations with the group were “dead.” However, in January, the Taliban said they were counting on the imminent signing of a peace treaty with the United States, and said that a draft agreement was already ready.