Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT News Report
KABUL: China believes that the Afghan issue should be resolved through political means and firmly supports the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process, Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson said on Monday.
When asked to comments on reports that a US-Taliban agreement was imminent, spokesperson Geng Shuang during his routine briefing said, “We noted relevant reports.”
China believes that the Afghan issue should be resolved through political means and firmly supports the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process.
“We support relevant parties to the Afghan issue in strengthening dialogue to create conditions for the final settlement of the Afghan issue,” he added.
This comes as the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, ZalmayKhalilzad, who is in Kabul after wrapping up Doha talks, says the United States and the Taliban have reached an agreement in principle, but it is not final until US President Trump agrees on it.
The two sides have held nine rounds of talks in the past ten months.
Talking to TOLOnews, Mr. Khalilzad said that based on the draft agreement, the US will withdraw 5,000 troops from five bases in Afghanistan within 135 days if conditions in the agreement are addressed by the Taliban.
“Yes, we have reached an agreement in principle,” Mr. Khalilzad said just hours after he briefed Afghan leaders on his on the US-Taliban deal. “Of course, it is not final until the US president [Donald Trump] agrees on it. So, at the moment, we are at that stage.”
