File Photo: Two suspected Taliban militants stand handcuffed after being captured in Shiberghan city, capital of Jawzjan province, north of Afghanistan, June 27, 2018. (Xinhua/Mohammad Jan Aria)
WASHINGTON, March 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State Department said Wednesday that U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad will host his counterparts of Russia, China and the European Union to discuss the Afghan peace process.
According to a statement issued by the State Department, the U.S. envoy will meet with Russian Presidential Special Representative Zamir Kabulov, Chinese Special Envoy Deng Xijun, and EU Special Envoy Roland Kobia at the Department of State on March 21 and 22.
The statement added that their discussion topics "include international support for the Afghan peace process, the role each party can play in bringing an end to the war and the progress to date in peace talks."
Khalilzad said on March 13 that the peace talks between United States and Afghan Taliban have made progress after tough negotiations in Qatar and conditions for achieving peaceful settlement have improved.
However, Afghanistan's National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib said later in Washington that "Ambassador Khalilzad ... doesn't know how to negotiate or in fact there may be other reasons behind what he is doing."
He has reportedly refused to apologize for his remarks after the U.S. State Department expressed dissatisfaction
It also remains unclear if the Taliban would like to talk directly with the Afghan government.
