President Ashraf Ghani and the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed an array of issues pertaining to the Afghan peace process via videoconference, bakhtarnews.com reports on June 3. The videoconference was joined by Afghan and American senior officials; First Vice President Amruallah Saleh, Second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation; Yosuf Ghazanfar, the President’s Special Representative on Economic Development; Dr. Fazel Fazly, Director General of Administrative Office of the President, Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation; General Scott Miller, the Commander of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission; and Ross Wilson, Charge d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Kabul.
Both sides exchanged views over joint efforts to maintain the momentum to advance the agenda of peace and stability in Afghanistan. The US Secretary of State said that the main goal of the United States is a united, independent, democratic and stable Afghanistan within the framework of the continued long-term and strategic relations between the two countries, and we will work with the Afghan government to achieve that. Also, President Ashraf Ghani articulated the Afghan government’s roadmap for a sustainable peace and stability in the country at the video conference and reiterated that the Afghan Government stressing on needs to multiply our efforts for a stable, united and free Afghanistan.
The two sides also discussed the future steps in the Afghan peace process, in particular the release of Taliban prisoners, venue for the intra-Afghan negotiations, underscoring the need to keep the people informed of the developments before and during the negotiations as they unfold.