There has been a “pretty important break through” over the past few days in talks between the United States and the Taliban who have been negotiating for a peace agreement in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.
Speaking to a pool of reporters traveling with him to Munich, Pompeo said President Donald Trump has given the authority to continue the talks and that Washington was seekinga significant reduction in violence before more deeper discussions involving all Afghans can start.
Earlier on Thursday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that the US and the Taliban had negotiated a proposal for a seven-day reduction in violence.
“We’ve said all along that the best, if not only, solution in Afghanistan is a political agreement. Progress has been made on this front and we’ll have more to report on that soon,” Esper told reporters during a press conference in Brussels.
