Thomas West, the US envoy for Afghanistan, has provided a public update on his continuing talks with the Taliban, characterising discussions as somewhat productive, The National reports.
The US now has “a relatively honest and productive dialogue with the Taliban with leaders from across their organisation”, Mr West said, noting that conversations regarding counterterrorism and ISIS have “become more honest and more candid".
“I believe that the Taliban are sincere in their efforts to contain [ISIS-Khorasan Province],” Mr West said at the US Institute for Peace, a federally funded think tank in Washington.
But Mr West also stated that “the Taliban has no interest in co-operating with the United States when it comes to fulfilment of their commitments to the Doha agreement”, which required the group to cut ties with Al Qaeda.