NATO Says Political Solution Needed In Afghanistan

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General, said on Wednesday that a political solution is needed in Afghanistan for ending the long-term conflict in the country.

Speaking in a press conference in London, Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO welcomes and supports the efforts for the resumption of peace talks between the U.S. and the Taliban militant group.
“We need a political negotiated solution in Afghanistan. The US has consulted closely with other NATO Allies and partners throughout the process, both at the political level, but also, of course, for instance, Ambassador Khalilzad has been many times in Brussels,” he said.

It comes as Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation has begun his new trip on Afghan peace in which after a visit to Kabul, he will travel to Qatar to rejoin talks with Taliban negotiators on steps that could lead to a ceasefire and a settlement to the war in Afghanistan, the State Department said in a statement on Wednesday.

“In Doha, Ambassador Khalilzad will rejoin talks with the Taliban to discuss steps that could lead to intra-Afghan negotiations and a peaceful settlement of the war, specifically a reduction in violence that leads to a ceasefire,” read the statement.

Trump declared the peace talks with the Taliban “dead” following an attack in the capital Kabul which killed 12 people in September, including a U.S. service member.