US and Taliban meeting in Abu Dhabi: what could be achieved?

The Taliban is meeting US officials today in Abu Dhabi in the latest attempt to jump-start peace talks between the warring sides in Afghanistan.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the fundamentalist group, said representatives from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the UAE would also attend. It “follows at least two meetings between Taliban officials and US special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar”, says Reuters.

The US has neither confirmed nor denied reports of meetings in the past, but Khalilzad is believed to have made several tours of the region since being appointed to the role in September.

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Khalil Minawi, director of Afghanistan’s state-run Bakhtar news agency, also confirmed the latest talks. Officials from the US, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UAE also held talks on Sunday ahead of “the Pakistani-sponsored US-Taliban meeting”, Minawi tweeted.

Although Afghan government officials are not expected to attend today’s negotations, “their presence in the UAE is a significant step in efforts to get the two sides talking”, says Al Jazeera. So far, the Taliban “have refused to hold direct talks with the Afghan government, calling it a puppet of the US and insisting only on negotiating with US officials”, the news site adds.

The militant group says the presence of international forces in Afghanistan is the main obstacle to peace, but has “also said that issues including mutual recognition with the Kabul government, constitutional changes and women’s rights” need to be negotiated, adds Reuters.

In a statement issued last month, the Taliban said it had held three consecutive days of talks with Khalilzad in Qatar, where the armed group maintains a political presence.

Khalilzad subsequently went to Kabul, “where he urged Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to cobble together a team that could hold talks with the Taliban with the intent of reaching an agreement on a road map for the future of Afghanistan”, says Al Jazeera.

According to reports, Khalilzad is hoping to see an agreement reached ahead of the upcoming Afghan presidential elections, scheduled for April.

The meetings come as US President Donald Trump pushes to end the 17-year war through negotiations with the militants. The US has tried but failed to reach a deal with the group over the past year.

US officials “are operating under the assumption that the president will pull the plug on the current American military mission in Afghanistan well before the US presidential election in November 2020”, reports NBC News.

The Trump administration has also sought to force the Taliban to the negotiating table with a massive bombing campaign. This year “the number of US bombs dropped on Afghanistan has hit a record high, with more than 5,200 as of 30 September”, adds the broadcaster.