Negotiations between the United States, the Taliban and the Afghan authorities were held in Doha. They agreed to stop fighting in exchange for Ashraf Ghani’s resignation, but his flight put an end to the agreement, the agency writes
A few weeks before the capture of Afghanistan by the militants of the terrorist group “Taliban” banned in Russia, active negotiations with the participation of the United States began in Doha. This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to sources close to the negotiations.
According to the agency’s interlocutors, in addition to American diplomats, representatives of the Taliban and Afghan government officials participated in the negotiations. During the meetings, the parties previously agreed on a two-week ceasefire. During this period, according to the agency’s interlocutors, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was supposed to announce his resignation, after which negotiations began on the formation of a transitional government, which was to include former President Hamid Karzai and other current and former officials.
According to sources, the Taliban’s unhindered advance through Afghanistan and the further capture of Kabul was a surprise even for representatives of the Taliban, and Ghani’s flight completely caught all three sides of the negotiations by surprise and put an end to the preliminary agreement.
According to Anish Goel, a senior researcher at the New America think tank and former senior White House director for South Asia under President Barack Obama, in fact, the Doha peace talks are over. “The Taliban have never negotiated in good faith, and they have no reason to start now. They have all the power in Afghanistan, and they clearly do not want to share it, ” he believes.
According to Bloomberg, the American ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, who represented the United States at the talks in Qatar, is still in Doha, trying to find new ways of settlement to ensure the preservation of peace in the Afghan capital. According to sources, he pays special attention to the issue of a peaceful transition to a new government, which should include representatives of different segments of Afghan society, and not just the Taliban.
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On August 15, Taliban militants entered Kabul, occupied the presidential palace and declared full control over Afghanistan. Ashraf Ghani fled the country. He said that he resigned his powers to avoid a massacre. The media wrote that the transitional administration of Afghanistan will be headed by former Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, but representatives of the Taliban said that they did not discuss the creation of an interim government. The Interior Ministry promised a peaceful transfer of power, and negotiations were held between the Taliban and the government on the same day.
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