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Pakistan invites Karzai to attend ‘special’ Afghan conference

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Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said Pakistan is continuing its efforts to achieve stability and security in Afghanistan.

In a tweet, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan had a telephonic conversation with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and invited him to attend a “special” conference on Afghanistan situation the country would organise soon.

Geo News reported that the information minister said that key Afghan leaders, including Hamid Karzai, have been invited to attend the proposed conference. 

The recent development will give rise to new hopes for a solution to Afghanistan’s problems, he added. 

According to a report in The News, the proposed conference will take place from July 17 to 19 and several Afghan leaders have already confirmed their participation. 

Afghan special presidential envoy for Pakistan Mohammed Umer Daudzai and former finance minister Omar Zakhilwal have both confirmed to VOA they will attend the meeting. However, Daudzai, said the meeting “dates are still being debated.”

Hamid Karzai, a former Afghan president, Salahuddin Rabbani, a former foreign minister, Omar Zakhilwal, a former finance minister, Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a senior leader of ethnic Hazara minority community, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former warlord-turned politician, and Ahmad Wali Masoud, are among the invitees, the sources said.

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US, Ukraine agree to terms of critical minerals deal

One of the sources familiar with the deal said future weapons shipments are still being discussed between Washington and Kyiv.

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The U.S. and Ukraine have agreed on the terms of a draft minerals deal central to Kyiv’s push to win Washington’s support as President Donald Trump seeks to rapidly end the war with Russia, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

A source familiar with the contents of the draft agreement said that it does not specify any U.S. security guarantees or continued flow of weapons but says that the United States wants Ukraine to be “free, sovereign and secure.”

One of the sources familiar with the deal said future weapons shipments are still being discussed between Washington and Kyiv.

Trump told reporters that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants to come to Washington on Friday to sign a “very big deal.” This came after the two leaders exchanged hostile words last week.

The U.S. president, who has cast the deal as a repayment for billions of dollars in aid to Kyiv, also said some form of peacekeeping troops are needed in Ukraine if an agreement to end the conflict is struck. Moscow, which launched an invasion of Ukraine three years ago, has refused to accept any deployment of NATO forces.

Some European countries have said they would be willing to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine. Trump said on Monday that Moscow would accept such peacekeepers, but the Kremlin denied that on Tuesday.

Trump’s rush to impose an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and his lurch toward Moscow has stoked fears of far-reaching U.S. concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin that could undermine security in Ukraine and Europe and alter the geopolitical landscape.

Trump last week falsely called Zelenskiy an unpopular “dictator” who needed to cut a quick peace deal or lose his country. The Ukrainian leader said the U.S. president was living in a “disinformation bubble.”

Officials on both sides have agreed to the draft and advised it should be signed, the sources said.

The deal could open up Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth to the U.S.

“What we’re doing is now we’re saying, look, we want to be secured,” Trump said. “The American taxpayer now is going to get their money back, plus.”

Zelenskiy refused to sign an earlier draft of a minerals agreement as Washington sought rights to $500 billion in Ukraine’s natural wealth. Kyiv protested it had received far less than that in U.S. aid and the deal lacked the security guarantees Ukraine needs.

Under the terms of a draft minerals agreement, according to sources familiar with its contents, the United States and Ukraine would establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund to collect and reinvest revenues from Ukrainian sources including minerals, hydrocarbons and other extractable materials.

Ukraine would contribute to the fund 50% of the revenue minus operating expenses and continue until the contributions reach the sum of $500 billion. The United States would provide a long-term financial commitment to the development of a “stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.”

Asked what Ukraine would get in return for the minerals deal, Trump cited what he said was $350 billion already provided by the U.S. “and lots of … military equipment and the right to fight on.”

Scott Anderson, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said that while the minerals deal would look like “a kind of piracy” to much of the world it is necessary to get buy-in from Trump and Republican lawmakers.

“They say this gives him (Trump) real skin in the game. I think there is real logic to that,” Anderson said.

“I hear that he’s coming on Friday,” Trump told reporters. “Certainly it’s okay with me if he’d like to. And he would like to sign it together with me.”

European officials have been left flat-footed by Trump’s decisions to hold talks on ending the war in Ukraine with Russia, spurning both Kyiv and Europe, and by his administration’s warning that the U.S. was no longer primarily focused on Europe’s security.

A White House meeting could give Zelenskiy a chance to make his case for continued U.S. support directly to Trump, who last week falsely accused Kyiv of starting the war.

Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the European Union as critical, according to Ukrainian data. They include industrial and construction materials, ferroalloy, precious and non-ferrous metals, and some rare earth elements.

Ukraine’s reserves of graphite, a key component in electric vehicle batteries and nuclear reactors, represent 20% of global resources.

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US senator pushes bill to block US funds from reaching Afghanistan

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Republican Senator Tim Sheehy said on Monday night that he is leading efforts to push the No Taxpayer Funding for Terrorists Act in the US Senate, which will prevent American financial aid from reaching Afghanistan.

In a post on X, the Montana senator, who is a former Navy Seal, said: “After fighting terrorists for years in Iraq and Afghanistan, I’m proud to lead the No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act in the U.S. Senate.”

The bill was originally introduced in the House of Representatives by Republican Congressman Tim Burchett to oppose financial and material support from going to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA). The bill was passed during President Joe Biden’s administration but failed to secure Senate approval.

However, on Monday, Congressman Tim Burchett issued a statement saying he will hold a press conference on Tuesday, February 25, on the Act.

He said in Monday’s statement that while working on the bill “it was brought to our attention that weekly cash shipments of around $40 million USD were being sent to the Afghanistan Central Bank.

“Additionally, after a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in December of 2024, Secretary Blinken admitted that around $10 million had been paid to the Taliban (IEA) in the form of taxes.”

He said the bill was “passed unanimously through both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer refused to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.”

“This legislation has been sat on long enough. We need to move this through both chambers and get it to President Trump’s desk,” said Burchett.

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Torkham remains closed after Pakistan-Afghanistan talks fail

The Pakistani authorities have requested that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) refrain from constructing new facilities along the Durand Line.

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The Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan remained closed on Tuesday after four days of negotiations between officials from the two countries failed to yield results.

Torkham commissioner Abdul Jabbar Hikmat reported that discussions held Monday were chaired by the deputy governor of Nangarhar but ended without any agreement.

The Pakistani authorities have requested that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) refrain from constructing new facilities along the Durand Line.

According to Bakhtar news agency, Pakistan also said Afghanistan should not obstruct Pakistan’s own development projects in the area.

Hikmat confirmed that this request was rejected by the Afghan side, which resulted in Pakistan maintaining its closure of the Torkham gate.

The ongoing closure has left thousands of travelers, including medical patients and commercial convoys stranded on both sides of the border.

Torkham is a key crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, especially for trucks. Closures of this border crossing result in huge losses for traders as many rely on this route to move fresh produce between the two countries.

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