Central Asia
Results of the First Round of Talks Between the USA and the Taliban
January 2019 saw the conclusion of the first round of talks between the USA and the Taliban, which took place in Qatar. The Afghan Taliban and the official representatives of the USA reached preliminary agreement on three key issues:
- the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan within 18 months;
- an exchange of prisoners;
- the lifting of the travel ban on Taliban leaders, and their removal from the UN’s blacklist.
Can China Pacify Afghanistan?
As it’s been confined to the world by the CNN, Donald Trump is planning to announce withdrawal of up to 7,000 American servicemen from Afghanistan this month. As of now, there’s more that 14 thousand men stationed by Washington in this war-ravaged country, so bringing a half of them back is no small task for the Pentagon that is about to take at least a couple of months.
