The United States on Friday agreed with rivals Russia on China on a goal of withdrawing foreign forces from Afghanistan, a key component of a peace deal being negotiated by Washington.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy negotiating with the Taliban,met with Russian and Chinese representatives in Moscow as he seeksinternational consensus for his efforts to end the war.
A joint statement by the three countries called for an”inclusive Afghan-led” peace process and outlined many of the key pointsexpected to feature in an eventual deal.
“The three sides call for an orderly and responsiblewithdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan as part of the overall peaceprocess,” said the statement issued by the US State Department.
They also said that the Taliban have made a”commitment” to fight the extremist Islamic State group and severties to Al-Qaeda.
The Taliban have promised to “ensure the areas theycontrol will not be used to threaten any other country,” the statementsaid, calling on them to prevent any “terrorist recruiting, training andfund-raising.”
President Donald Trump is eager to end America’slongest-ever war, which was launched in response to the September 11, 2001attacks, when the then Taliban regime gave shelter to Al-Qaeda.
Russia and China both have strong interests in Afghanistan.Some 14,000 Soviet soldiers were killed in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989 in aconflict with US-backed Islamic guerrillas.
China has been stepping up its involvement in Afghanistanboth militarily and economically as it voices worries that militants couldsneak into its restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang region.
Khalilzad will also hold separate talks during his latesttrip with Pakistan and India, which have strongly different views onAfghanistan, and earlier huddled with European envoys in London.
One major sticking point is the Taliban’s refusal tonegotiate with the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, which haswide-ranging international support.
The United States, Russia and China called on the Taliban to speak as soon as possible with a “broad, representative Afghan delegation that includes the government.”