Members of the Taliban and Afghan government leaders were expected to engage in peace talks last March, with the aim of moving toward settling the 15-year conflict. However, on March 5, the Taliban leadership announced that it would not attend peace talks until all foreign soldiers had left Afghanistan and Taliban fighters had been released.
"We can now observe progress in Afghanistan, and it is significant, therefore we support negotiations between the country's government and the Taliban, as the situation in the region depends on their results," Steinmeier said at a press conference after his meeting with Tajikistan's Foreign Minister Nubuster Sirodjidin Aslov.
Steinmeier called on Tajikistan's authorities to conduct political consultations and discussions to prevent the growth of radicalization and extremism.
The German foreign minister arrived in Dushanbe earlier in the day as part of his Central Asia tour as the acting chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
