KABUL (TCA) — A meeting of the US-Europe Group for Afghan Peace was held in Berlin on June 4 with the participation of US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto, special envoys from the EU member countries and Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Idris Zaman. They held wide-ranging discussions on meetings on peace in Afghanistan in Norway, Germany, and Qatar, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported.
Khalilzad said in a tweet that he had productive meetings with German Chancellor’s Foreign Policy and Security Advisor Hecker, German Foreign Office Secretary Michaelis and German Special Envoy Markus Potzel.
Khalilzad said that Germany also hosted the second US-Europe Group for Afghan Peace meeting. He said that after the peace process update, they reviewed the upcoming Oslo Forum and German-Qatari hosted intra-Afghan dialogue.
“Our focus was intra-Af negotiations (that lead to a political roadmap) and who can do what to make it happen as soon as possible,” said Khalilzad.
“I hope that Germany in coordination with the people and government of Afghanistan and the Taliban take forward this meeting towards an outcome,” said former Afghan MP Ali Kazimi.
“We will have a positive outcome if all European and neighboring countries to Afghanistan join hands and contribute honesty in the Afghan peace process,” said Afghan political analyst Hamid Sultani.
Meanwhile, the German envoy Markus Potzel said in a tweet that in Berlin, they agreed that intra-Afghan dialogue should start as soon as possible. “All participants are committed to supporting it,” he tweeted.
In their previous meetings, the US and the Taliban mostly focused on a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and the assurance that Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against other countries.
