Afghan Security Forces to Reject Transient Peace Deal With Taliban - President

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has stressed that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces would reject a transient peace agreement with the Taliban movement, Khaama Press news agency reported on Sunday.

The president said that any peace agreement should be permanent and clearly outline the role of the national defense and security forces, according to the Khaama Press news agency.

READ MORE: Afghan Security Forces Shrinking as Taliban Regain Territory — Report

The issue of reaching a peace deal between opposing forces in Afghanistan is being discussed in various formats, including one in Moscow. The first round of Moscow talks on Afghanistan was held in April 2017. The Russian capital hosted the most recent meeting in this format on November 9. The negotiations consisted of a closed-door meeting between the Afghanistan High Peace Council and the political office of the Taliban movement in Doha, which took part in this kind of meeting for the first time.

In January, US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said in an interview with The New York Times that US and Taliban officials during talks in Doha had agreed in principle on the framework of an agreement "that would prevent Afghanistan from ever becoming a platform for international terrorist groups or individuals" in exchange for the withdrawal of US troops and a ceasefire.

However, a spokesman for the Afghanistan High Peace Council, Sayed Ihsan Taheri, told Sputnik on Wednesday that there was no draft agreement on peace in Afghanistan at this point, it will be prepared after the start of direct negotiations between the Kabul government and the radical Taliban movement.