DOHA – The Taliban warned the United States not to “destabilise” the regime during their first face-to-face talks since the US withdrawal, its foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said on Saturday.
“We clearly told them that trying to destabilise the government in Afghanistan is good for no one,” Muttaqi told the Afghan state news agency Bakhar, in a recorded statement.
Senior Taliban officials and United States representatives discussed opening a new page in their countries’ relations during talks in Qatar on Saturday.
According to Afghan Acting Foreign Minister, Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi, Afghan delegation asked the US to lift its ban
on the reserves of Afghanistan’s Central Bank. He added that the US would offer Afghan people vaccines against COVID-19.
Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi said focus of Afghan delegation is humanitarian aid, as well implementation of agreement the Taliban signed with Washington last year which paved the way for US withdrawal.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the US State Department said the talks are not about recognising or legitimising the Taliban as Afghanistan’s leaders, but are a continuation of pragmatic talks on issues of national interest for the US. The in-person meetings that began in Doha Saturday are the first since US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August – ending a 20-year military presence.