Afghanistan, US, Russia hold trilateral meeting on Afghan peace process

The Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar held a trilateral meeting with US Special Peace Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Russian Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov via video teleconference Monday.  

The three countries have reiterated their strong commitment to an Afghan-owned peace process and support for safeguarding Afghanistan’s achievements over the past 19 years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

According to the statement, all sides agreed as follow:

1. The Russian and the US Governments welcome the Afghan Government’s commitment and progress towards releasing of the Taliban prisoners as a necessary step towards the early start of the intra-Afghan negotiations. The parties call on the Taliban to reciprocate the Afghan Government’s move by releasing all Afghan Government prisoners held by them consistent with their commitment in the Doha Agreement.
2. Recognizing the importance of ensuring a positive atmosphere for the impending negotiations, the parties call for a significant reduction in violence as a confidence-building measure. The Afghan Government’s proposal concerning the establishment of a monitoring mechanism for compliance with ‘Reduction in Violence (RiV) measures and to ensure mutual accountability overall through the peace process is a positive contribution.
3. The parties welcome the readiness of both sides to the intra-Afghan negotiations for an early start of the negotiations and expect that an initial meeting between the negotiating teams must be held immediately to agree on the agenda and next steps. Consistent with the Doha Agreement, the parties expect that achieving a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire will be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan negotiations at the outset.
4. The parties agree on the importance of regional and international cooperation as key to sustaining the intra-Afghan negotiations and ultimately to the success of the peace process. In this context, the parties call for further consultations through existing or new inclusive regional and international mechanisms aimed at further strengthening regional and international consensus in support of the peace process.
5. The parties agree to meet again in this Trilateral format to discuss the progress made in the intra-Afghan negotiation process. The schedule and details of the next meeting are to be determined through diplomatic channels.

On the other hand, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, described the situation in Afghanistan as “challenging” and said, “NATO will continue to adjust our presence in support of the peace process. But for the peace to succeed, the Taliban must live up to their commitments. To reduce violence, break all bonds with Al Qaida and other international terrorist groups, and engage in intra-Afghan talks in good faith.”

Meanwhile, the Afghan government also speaks about the increase in violence by the Taliban.

The US ambassador to NATO, Bailey Hutchison, underlined that the Intra-Afghan talks is expected to put an end to violence, protect human rights, uphold the rule of law and eliminate terrorist shelters forever.

Sources in the Afghan government have said that an agreement has been reached to hold the first round of the Intra-Afghan talks in Doha in the coming days.

The Taliban, however, has said that negotiation with the government depends on the release of all 5,000 prisoners of the group.

It is noteworthy that more than 3,000 Taliban prisoners have been released by the government so far, and the Taliban too, have released nearly 500 government prisoners.

Some 2,000 other Taliban prisoners are set to be released in a week’s time.